Overlady: Attack of the Minions (Thread II)

"Time grows short and the traitors grow stronger and stronger. It may be necessary to unseal the Hidden Casket. I should not do so. We have hidden this for so long against every greedy would-be tyrant. I would betray my oaths if I were to break the chains. And yet my oaths also say that the throne is ours and we will not give it up.

Why are we reduced to this? What dreadful evil has put us in the place that I am even considering it?"

– Cearl Stewart, the Prince Wales






Albion had sunk overnight, and now sat among the clouds. The mist was thick and damp, and the rain drifted gently down. It rolled from thick dark green leaves, and clung to old stone buildings.

Louise watched Henrietta leave amidst the column of minions, demons, skeletons, dark elves and small children. She couldn't deny that the wetness on her face was from more than the clouds.

Jessica rested a warm hand on her shoulder, dark hair framing her face from under her hood. "Don't worry," she said. "We're going to get through this."

"Are we?" Louise whispered, feeling the aching, empty hole in her heart. The rain pounded against her helmet, making her feel like she was trapped inside a drum.

"Yes. Yes, we are. I told her and Tiffania you had a stomach bug and couldn't go out on campaign. You just need some time apart. So I said I'd treat you with my magic demon healing powers."

"... can you heal people?" Louise asked, accepting any distraction.

Jessica turned red. "I mean… well, uh. Technically. Very technically." She looked away. "But I don't ever do that."

"Explain."

"It's… how to put it? Oh yeah. It's draining someone's life, but in reverse. So the mechanics are very similar." She glanced at Louise's blank look. "You do know how an incubus drains life, right?"

"Oh." Louise blinked, and her cheeks pinkened. "I. I see."

"Yeah. Quite. I mean, I like you, so if you were dying for real I might… look, can we just shut up about it?"

"Yes! Please do!"

They stood in mutual embarrassed silence.

"Look, like, we could probably do this inside where it's dry. The talking! Not any healing! Got it?" Jessica managed eventually. "Heading in?"

"In a moment," Louise said reluctantly. "I… I need to call Cattleya. I want to talk to her."

"Yeah, but won't you just fight with her again?"

"I don't want to. I… I just can't have both of them hating me," Louise said plaintively. "I need to get my head back together. And my big sister…" She spread her hands helplessly.

"Are you going to talk to her about, like, you know? Liking girls? Ask her for advice?"

Louise frowned. "Why would I do that?"

"Because… it… she… you know, she..." Jessica trailed off. "Just an idea," she mumbled. "I'm going in where it's dry. Urgh. Why didn't I bring an umbrella?"

Louise was left alone on the ruined wall, watching the column until it was out of sight. She lifted her left hand, staring at it.

"It's your fault," she whispered. "Without… without you, without all this… I could just tell her. I know I should. I… she's going down a dark path. And I don't… I can't lose her. But I can't let her damn herself. I did all of this for her and… and…" Louise let out a wet, choking sob. "Why doesn't she appreciate me? She loves him more than me and..."

The gauntlet whispered to her, in a hissing, soft voice. Its words were on the edge of understanding. Around her, the rain parted. No, it wasn't parting. It was flash-boiling before it could fall on her. Clouds of steam wreathed Louise's slender frame.






Another hand. There's always another hand. This one is large, brutish, crude. It grips a very familiar weapon.

It is night. The cave-dwelling simpletons of this land are all asleep in their holes, dozing in a drugged stupor. Her master didn't do that. They did it to themselves.

Of course, certain of her master's servants might have helped encourage it by adding other herbs to the storerooms, but the forces of evil didn't make this rotund addicts smoke the contaminated weed, did they?

Dark magic flows through her body, from her fingertips to her armguard. Oh yes, her master might look one of his orcish servants, but he has a certain brutal cunning that's refreshing after so many inbred nobles. He's wanted certain kinds of power from her, and she's provided them. It's what she is. The left hand of her masters and mistresses.

"Have you found him?" her master asks.

"Yeah. The real fat one with the golden chain."

Her master chuckles. "Well, time to take over, then." He strides down the slope, through the opened gates into the halfling town, and no one stops them. She swings back and forth, exulting in what is about to happen. In what she is about to make possible.

"Wotcha, your excellency? If you were awake, I bet you'd be ringing all kinds of alarms. But you ain't, are you?" She is laid to rest on a curly head.

And her master speaks a single word.

The dark energy within her surges forth, into the mind of this halfling mayor. Everything has a breaking point and she can break anything. Sometimes it's a bone, when her master punches his foes. Sometimes it's a siege line when her sound sends minions forth. And sometimes it's a mind.

The air is thick with the scent of corruption.

She can taste the moment his will… snaps. When the dark energy breaks him and evil owns him. And she revels in it.

"Listen up, governor," her master says. "Now, I got some orders from you. Orders you sure wanna carry out."

Of course the halfling does. It's all he wants, to serve her master. To serve evil.






"No! No!" The words forced themselves out of Louise's mouth, and she balled her left hand into a trembling fist. "I won't!"

The Gauntlet said nothing. It had even stopped its whispering. After all, it had taught her what she needed to know. No! What it wanted her to know! Not what she needed! Never what she needed!

Louise paced back and forwards, rain slashing down upon her and clattering off her helmet. Could she… could she forget this? Ha, yes, wasn't like she'd paid attention! It wasn't as if it was burned into her soul or something because as soon as she thought about it she knew exactly what she'd need to do to crush someone's mind and… oh God, she couldn't even lie to herself. She knew exactly what she had to do to crush a man's mind and make him into her slave. If she had to be a heir to the Void when it was sick and corrupted, why couldn't she have one of the useful powers from the stories, like how Brimir's inspired preaching could convert even orcs and demons to the cause of holiness?

… oh. Oh.

Sugar.

She glared at her gauntlet. "Not one word from you!" she snapped.

The metal glove said nothing, but she was fairly sure it pulsed smugly.

Distasteful as it was, the spell was useful, she thought. Her... her dratted Gauntlet might have given it to her because of Henrietta, but nothing meant she had to use it that way. She could vow to only use it for goo- for her plan. Dominate that dog Wardes with it, or other forces of the Council...

"I said not one word!" she snapped at the Gauntlet. It hadn't been whispering, but that wasn't a thought she would have had without the power of the Void corrupting her. She'd have to watch herself carefully for any more seductive little Evil impulses. Even if they were good ones. Bad ones. Whatever.

Louise had to talk to someone. Not Gnarl. Definitely not Gnarl. And she couldn't talk to Henrietta right now because she wasn't here but also she just couldn't, so she was doubly off the table. Jessica wouldn't understand why evil mind control was wrong. Who else did she have? Cattleya? It just wasn't right when she was feeling fragile. She just couldn't take another fight! Yes, she had been planning to talk to her, but that had been before she'd been rattled by her evil magic armour forcing an evil mind control spell into her head!

… Emperor Lee?

She paused, and stared out into space. Why had she even thought about him? It wasn't like he'd have something reassuring to say about how she wasn't a bad person just because her evil magic gauntlet had taught her a nasty spell for controlling the minds of others.

But he might say something nice to her. There. She had thought it. She just wanted… niceness. And she was willing to tolerate the worrying way that conversations with him turned into red hot embarrassment if it might mean she could be feeling better about herself by the end.

The Gauntlet chimed like a bell as she cast the far-speaking spell. Wait, wait, she had to cast the translation magic too… aha!

"Who is this? How did you breach my magical wards!" He didn't sound happy.

Oh dear. "Emperor Lee," Louise said, trying not to stammer or show any weakness, "it is the Steel Maiden. And you told me to contact you by this method."

There was a long pause. In the background, Louise could hear the sound of the screaming of horses, the hollering of men and the clatter of steel on steel. "Oh yes," he said. "I'm just a little bit busy now. Some peasants thought they could rebel. And…" there was an audible whoosh of flame, and more screaming. "Oh no, the cowards are running away. Come on, five minutes ago you were talking all about how death was preferable to my rule." Emperor Lee clicked his tongue. "People never take me at my word," he observed. "I am an honest man. I expect honesty from people I rule too."

"Ah." Louise swallowed. She intellectually knew that Emperor Lee did these sorts of things. He was a blackhearted tyrant. It came with the title. But did she have to listen to the screaming? "I was thinking about what you said on our last," date, "... meeting. About the Albionese."

"They are fools."

"Yes, exactly," Louise said. She looked out over the rain-sodden landscape, feeling like a roof with how the rain was beating against her helmet. "From an awful wet country!"

"Is there a point to this?" Lee clicked his tongue again. "Or are you just going to blather on like you did at that coffee shop?"

"Well, uh." Blather? Blather! She didn't blather! The last time they'd gone for coffee, he'd been a cold jerk! She'd been trying to talk to him! And now? How dare he not stammer! How dare he be distracted! If the battle was over, then she was clearly far, far more important than whatever survivors there were. The ones who were screaming and… "I was just wondering how you were… how you were doing?"

"I am very busy."

"Good. That's… that's good." Louise puffed herself up, trying not to show weakness. Even if he couldn't see her. "I just discovered an evil spell of terrible power."

"Did you?"

"I mean, I'd understand if you had nothing at all comparable to a spell that crush a man's will and make him your slave," Louise continued, a note of confidence entering her voice. Yes, it might be a... a terrible wicked spell she'd already vowed never to use, but at least it was a powerful one. The kind of thing that showed she was someone to take seriously and respect.

"Is that a threat? Only an idiot would threaten me."

Confidence taking a hairpin turn, she choked back her immediate urge to apologise. "Who'd want to threaten you, idiot?" she instead blurted out.

"... what does that mean?"

"Nothing!" This was falling apart, and worse, he wasn't complimenting her! "I just had some questions about-"

"No, really." Emperor Lee's tone was icier than the rain. "What does 'Who'd want to threaten you, idiot' mean?"

"Well, uh." She thought fast, staring out at the grey horizon. "You can't see enemies everywhere. And why would I make enemies of someone as powerful as you?"

"Trusting a wicked foreigner and force of darkness like yourself would be objectively suboptimal."

That was offensive. "Hey! To me, you're a wicked foreigner and force of darkness," she snapped back.

"You are wrong. And even if I was, so what?"

"I just wanted to ask some questions about the metal and gems you sold to the Albionese!" Louise forced through. "You can help me."

"Why would I do that?"

That… that cold-hearted pile of sugar! She'd… she'd kissed him. Was this some disgusting trick to get another kiss out of her? And worst thing was, she was willing if it could quiet her worries. And get her another not-a-date, of course. "I'd be very grateful. Like last time. The Albionese are stupid, like you said. They had to let something slip. What are they planning?"

"So you are running to me with your problems?"

The words were like a fist to her stomach. All Louise could do was gasp. "So you do know?"

"Maybe."

"Then why won't you help?!"

"I don't see any reason to. What is gratitude worth?"

The rain was getting in her eyes. That had to be it. The rain was getting in her eyes and she was feeling warm because of the armour. Not because she was feeling humiliated and angry and sad and why didn't she have any luck with relationships! Not that this was one! But still! "You're such a jerk!" she blurted out, and then broke the spell.

That ass! That unrestrained, donkey-headed idiot! He… she… that was it! She was going to show him that she didn't need him! That she wasn't relying on him to solve her problems! That she could do it all on her own.

Then Louise reconsidered. Doing it all on her own would be stupid.

"Jessica!"






"Jessica!" The door burst open under Louise's boot.

"Seriously, boss, we gotta talk about your refusal to use the door handle," Jessica said from her position sprawled out on her bed. She had turned on a red glowing cube and the light gave the entire room a sinister gloom. Her shadow on the wall behind her wasn't entirely human. "Now, you're dripping water all over the place and you're probably going to rust," she shot a sideways glance at her companion, "or at least you would if I wasn't so awesome in how I treated the metal."

"Blah blah blah," said Izah'belya, slumped in a chair covered in stolen pillows. She didn't look much like she had before. She was wearing one of Jessica's bulky black hoodies, and her hair no longer had the aura of demonic beauty it had before. It now looked like normal hair that needed a brush, a wash, and probably a trim around the slightly skewed edges. Something was very wrong about her appearance, but it just wasn't clicking for Louise. "But yeah. What's down?"

"Jessica, Emperor Lee is an insubordinate cur and I need to show him up and…" Louise paused, whirling on Izah'belya. "Wait. Where are your horns?"

"On my head," the succubus said, running one hand through her smooth silken hair. And indeed, her ram-like horns were entirely prominent. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh no, no, they weren't… I was… it…" Louise trailed off. She had entirely lost her train of thought.

"Want some tea?" Jessica said brightly. "I mean, they haven't got any coffee here, but this is Albion. They always have tea. Or at least they do now. They probably won't when they've driven themselves with poverty with this Albigone bullshit. Hah!"

Louise stared suspiciously at Izah'belya. Something hot did sound nice. She wasn't wearing her full armour, but she was still soaked and chilly. "I… yes. Yes, I would."

She had to admit she felt a little bit better when she was seated and had her hands wrapped around a hot mug of tea. She was fairly sure that it had been stolen from some nobleman's set of china, because it had clearly been fine quality. Now it had lost all its decoration from erratic washing. She glanced over at Izah'belya again. There was no way her hair had been so pretty and shiny and silky and smooth in how it framed her heart-shaped face when Louise had entered the room. There was demonic magic at play, there was no doubt about it.

"Yes, trust me, I wouldn't wear these kinds of clothes normally," Izah'belya said, catching her eye and misreading the question. "They're Jez'sika's. As you can probably tell. I wasn't exactly packed for a long stay here, and my clothes got ruined."

"Is that some kind of criticism of my style choices?" Jessica demanded.

Her cousin tilted her head. "Yes?" she said, after checking the conversation for traps. "Jez, you're talented at what you do, but you're a fashion bum whenever you're not at a show. All you bought were t-shirts, hoodies, and unflattering pants. I'm having to wear this in public, and I'd only wear something like this if I was having a me-day and not leaving my apartment."

Jessica sniffed. "You're mean," she accused. "I mean, you're correct, but you're still mean."

Louise looked between the two women, clutching her tea. "I notice that neither of you have tried to claw each other's eyes out yet. Did something happen?"

That got her two remarkably similar expressions of shock.

"Would I do that?" Izah'belya asked.

"Of course not," Jessica agreed. "We are princesses of the Abyss."

"High class demons."

"Cultured."

"Refined."

"Beautiful."

"Better than the lower classes."

"We would never ever do something like that!"

Louise put down her cup with a clink. "You were doing that literally yesterday."

"Well… that doesn't count," Izah'belya said, after a long pause in which she tried to come up with an explanation and failed.

"Jessica," Louise said firmly. "What. Happened? Why are you finishing each other's sentences?"

Jessica pulled a face. "So, uh," she said, rubbing the back of her neck. "I only had two books with me. And I'd read one of them already. So, like, when I finished the other, I got super bored."

"It was super boring in there," Izah'belya confirmed. "Once you've seen one infinite black expanse with floating rubble in it, you've seen them all. They're as bad as glowing doom sky portals."

"So, uh. We wound up…"

"Do I want to know?" Louise asked, blushing pinkly.

"No, not that! Don't you start!" Jessica exclaimed. She swung her legs off the bed, and sat hunched over, elbows on her knees. "No, we just had a heartfelt conversation where we resolved our differences and realised we've really got more in common and it's only the systematic racism and structural discrimination of the Abyss that drove us apart when we were childhood best friends. And that we've both been really bitchy to each other at one time or another. And both of us were outcasts in our own way; her because she's 'weak-blooded' and 'too human' and because she don't do what a 'proper' succubus should, while I'm a female incubus and so don't conform to heteronormative standards of beauty and sexuality."

"Um." Louise blinked, lost in the polysyllabic flow. "Jolly good. Keep at it."

"So, to put it another way," Izah'belya said, with a wicked smirk as she lifted her teacup in a mocking salute, "we made out."

"Made up," Jessica said firmly. "Don't tease her about that."

Louise's existence was bright red mortification. "You… you heard?" Jessica nodded. "Oh God oh God oh God oh God…"

Jessica reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "Hey, boss, I'm half-incubus, remember? Girls having that kind of embarrassing slip around me is kind of the base state of my existence. I'm kind of numb to it."

"It was pretty cute how you decided to try to play it off and hope no one noticed," Izah'belya added with a wink. "But you're generally pretty cute."

"Well, I…" Louise swallowed, glanced at Izah'belya, and completely forgot what she was going to say. "I'm… glad you're getting on better. So does that mean I can order things from-"

"Woah woah woah," Jessica said, sitting upright. "Let's not get silly. We're not doing that."

Izah'belya nodded, crossing and uncrossing her legs. "We agreed a non-compete clause. So no. I'm afraid you can't have the pleasure of my much more luxurious options. Although, of course, if Jez'sika relents, I suppose we could always collaborate and…" Something chimed in her pocket. The succubus pulled out a slender slab of obsidian, and her eyes widened. "Let me just get this," she said, holding the obsidian to her ear.

"Oh, hello sister. Whatever could you be wanting?" A pause. "Well, I suppose I could make a meeting. I just got out of something stressful so I need to go back home and change, but… well, where are you?" A pause. "I see. I suppose I can do tomorrow. What do you mean, it's an emergency?" She sighed. "Fine. Fine. This evening, in the usual place. You owe me big time for this. How does that feel, to… whatever. See you. And this better be worth it." She tapped the front of the obsidian block, and put it back in the pocket of her hoodie. "So yeah. Got to go now, Jez. One of my sisters is calling me up."

"It's probably another assassination attempt," Jessica said dryly. "I mean, dark gods, at least I don't try to kill you. Unlike all those murderous bimbos."

Izah'belya chuckled, a mysterious smile forming on her face. "Not this sister. She's much more trustworthy." She stepped over to the bed and pulled Jessica up in a hug. "Well, have fun getting rained on up here," she said. "I'm headed home to the warm."

"Yeah, yeah, gloat all you want," Jessica said, hugging back. "See you around, I guess. We should do lunch some time."

"Call me up when you're free and I'll see where it slots in my schedule. I'm busier than you, after all," Izah'belya said, a wicked smirk on her face. "And I'll send you some replacement clothes. Something you can actually wear in public."

"Don't you dare! I like that hoodie!"

"Fine, fine, I'll send this rag back too." She sashayed away, before something seemed to occur to her. "Hey, Jez, parchment?"

"Over there."

"Thanks." She tore off a piece, and drew something on it, then stepped up to Louise. "Wicked to meet you again, cutie. It's a shame you didn't deal with me back then, but it's diabolical to see you're doing great." She took Louise's hand and shook it, passing her the parchment.

Louise unfolded it. There was a little runic circle drawn on it. "What is this?" she asked.

"Oh, just my invocation. After all this is over, we should go out for drinks some time. Go to the theatre, go clubbing, something like that. Or we could just go back to my place and watch the crystal ball and chill." Izah'belya winked.

"Uh?" Louise looked to Jessica for help. She wasn't entirely sure what was going on and didn't trust it one bit. Was Izah'belya trying to steal her soul?

"Stuff's super backwards on the surface, Izzie," Jessica reminded her cousin. "Not just the magic. Also the gender politics and the lack of a dating scene. You need to be a little more upfront about these things. Boss, she's asking you out. On a date. With romantic intentions."

"Oh. Oh." Louise stared at the wall, and something clicked in her brain. "B-but I don't even like girls that way!" she blustered on reflex. Someone wanting to romance her? A woman? A woman who wasn't Henrietta – who didn't count for reasons Louise couldn't go into right now – wanted to… this had to be some kind of joke. Or trick. Maybe Jessica had set it up to try to get her thinking about someone who wasn't Henrietta. It had to be something like that. After all, she was all… all short and skinny and with eyes that tended to glow and a figure that went up and down rather than in and out and...

That got her two very unimpressed looks. "You were barely functional because of the combined effects of both of us," Jessica reminded her. "Don't pull that shit on me. It's real old. You fight for both sides." She folded her arms. "And before you work yourself up into a state, me and her laid out some ground rules. No business talk, she doesn't try to get her hands on your soul, and that kind of jazz."

"It'd just be a date. Uh, if you're up for it," Izah'belya agreed. "I just want to get to know you a bit better, cutie. Get to see the figure you're hiding under all that armour. Even if you are pretty deep in the magic wardrobe. So we can go out, get some drinks, see if we get on – and if something happens, it happens."

"Oh." Louise felt she really had to contribute more to the conversation. That was hard. Very hard. Founder, she didn't need more drama in her love life. Or lack thereof, to date. Well… well, Emperor Lee didn't get a say – not that she was telling him, hah – because he was a rude mean jerk! And an idiot!

And Henrietta... Henrietta didn't love her. Didn't return her feelings. It hurt. It had hurt last night and it still hurt, like a scabbed-over cut on her chest. She just thought of Louise as her friend. Her friend who could never love her like… like that stupid dead prince did.

Maybe she should try it. Just… so she'd have someone else to think about. Who wasn't Henrietta, warm in her bed, not even understanding or seeing that Louise wanted to kiss her.

She swallowed. "Uh. Thank you. Um. I'll… I'll think about it," she managed weakly.

"Cool." Izah'belya gave a thumbs up and a wink. "Well, dark fortune with what you've got going on here. Try not to get Tifa killed – I've invested a bunch in her. Plus, her kids are hilarious. Well, apart from Magda. That girl can't be trusted. Invoke me if you're up for it." She turned, and gave Jessica another hug. "See you around, bitch-tits."

"Yeah. Fuck off back to the Abyss, you dumb cow," Jessica said with a fond grin.

With a wave, Izah'belya split open the world with a line of deep red flame, and stepped through the hellish portal. It closed behind her with a yelp of the damned. Jessica, still smiling, nodded. "Well, that went malevolently," she said. "I hope this lasts." She turned to Louise, who had taken to hyperventilating into her hands. "Oh Dark Gods, what now?"

"She has to be planning something, she's tricked you, she's working for someone to destroy me, there's some dark and wicked seduction planned and…"

"Or," Jessica suggested, taking Louise's wrists, "she thinks you're beautiful. You're worrying about nothing." She paused. "I mean, she probably is planning a seduction, but that's because she thinks you're pretty. She goes both ways, just like you."

"Ha! It's obviously some dark plan! It's the only reason she'd want to… want to…" Louise choked up.

"OK. Real-talk, Lou." Jessica led her to a chair. "You are pretty. Did no one ever give you compliments about your appearance?"

Louise looked away. "Back at school, they said I looked like a small child," she muttered, heart still pounding. "And I still do. Look at me. I'm short, I have no figure, and the only way I can get anyone take me seriously is to wear all this armour. They'd laugh at me otherwise."

"Okay. Okay." Jessica rubbed her palms into her eyes. "Lou, I have things to complain about how I look. I have to watch what I eat or I balloon up, my hair's greasy, and oh yes I turn into a figure of androsexual lust whenever I lose control. I didn't ask to be born as a demonic anchor to Dad's power. But that's what I am, so I live with a body that turns into a hot guy whenever I feel anything strongly. I don't want to be a man. That's not who I am, even if that's what my soul wants me to be. I'm on a regimen of daily potions and have been since puberty. Do you know how hard it is to date when you need to find a guy who's into both guys and girls and doesn't feel emasculated when his girlfriend turns into a demon prince in the bedroom?

"You? You're a pretty, petite girl with perfect skin. Yeah, you looked young for your age when we first met. Now you're nearly nineteen. No one could mistake you for a kid. All I can say is that growing up in the same household as Cattleya must've warped your standards, because newsflash, Lou – thin girls don't usually have a massive rack. And you're disgustingly, unfairly naturally thin even though you eat more than me. Most of drawings of dark queens and evil sorceresses with hourglass figures are BS. They're illusions for the journals, or resketches, or they've cut themselves up and mutilated themselves for the sake of what other people say. Trust me, I'm in the fashion industry. It's like I told Henrietta when she got worried about it – unless you rolled triple sixes, you're not going to have that body type."

"So, to put things bluntly, you're a pretty girl and a succubus just asked you out on a date. You can go. You can choose not to. But you really, really need some more confidence in your appearance."

Jessica fell silent, breathing deeply. Louise opened her mouth, then closed it again. "You… you mean it?" she tried.

"No, I was just ranting for fun of course I meant it." Jessica pinched the bridge of her nose. "Dark Gods, is this why you've been going on and on about how you need armour for all your outfits? You just don't have the self-confidence to accept you look great and so you're hiding behind plate?"

Now that was unfair. "Hey! I wore that dress for the Cabal Awards and then we wound up in Baelogji's scheme and I didn't have my armour and I should have been wearing it all along!" Louise protested. "Being an overlady is not a safe occupation!"

Jessica stared, then chuckled. "Okay. Okay. That… that was unfair of me. A bit. And you're not as shrinking as you used to be. But still, Lou. You're pretty, and Izah'belya does actually think that. She mentioned you were a cutie when we were trapped in that place."

"Oh." Louise swallowed. "I… do you think I should go? On a date? With your cousin?"

"I'm not going to pressure you. Either way," Jessica said, raising her hands in a warding gesture. "But I do think it's an idea to keep your options open. You know how the saying goes, 'there's plenty more leeches in the Styx'. And if the whole Henrietta thing doesn't work out, you could try dating. You know, get some experience in, find out what kind of person does it for you."

Staring down at her hands, Louise clenched and unclenched them. "You know, I had an arranged marriage," she said.

"Yes, I know. You periodically rant about Wardes."

"Well, he's a lying, cheating, unfaithful dog!" Louise flared. She paused, taking a deep breath. "Where was I? Oh yes. But I… I always thought I'd… I mean, I was going to marry who my parents found for me. Father always said that he wouldn't make me marry anyone I hated, but… I couldn't really pick someone, just turn down who I was offered. I'm… I'm not used to the idea of having a choice. It's scary." She shivered, feeling the hair stand on end on her arms. "And a little bit wonderful."

"So you're going to invoke Izah'belya when this is over?"

"Yes. No. Maybe." Louise swallowed. "I'll see how I feel." Metal scraped against metal as she wrung her hands in her lap. "I don't… I don't want to feel like I'm unfaithful to Henrietta," she said in a tiny voice.

"… Lou. She made it entirely clear last night she doesn't think of you that way. Heaven, she's been conspiring with me to get you to go on more dates with Emperor Lee. Because she wants you to be happy and meet more people." Jessica patted Louise on the hand. "You're not being unfaithful."

"Yes. Perhaps. But my heart doesn't feel that way." She looked over at Jessica, hair falling out from under her helmet and in front of her face. "And I'm sorry about your… about your problems. I know it must," she smiled weakly, "feel really unfair for you. That I'm worrying about… about my things when I just got asked out and I'm seeing an emperor and… things. Things like that."

Jessica smiled wryly. "Yeah, kinda. I know you don't mean it, but it does suck. At least you try. It's more than most people in the Abyss."

"You've been a really good friend, Jessica. Or a really wicked one. Depending on who's asking. I don't do enough for you and rather take you for granted. I'm just a bit off balance because this stupid metal glove," Louise raised her hand, "decided to force knowledge of a new dark magic spell into my brain. I'm just feeling out of sorts."

"Hey, if you're being bitchier than usual, I didn't notice," Jessica said in what didn't exactly sound like a compliment. "And don't sell yourself cheap. This is my big chance. I'm not living with Dad, doing whatever small contracts I can grab between my shifts in the bar," she added, perking up slightly. "I got some malicious reviews for that dress you wore for the Cabal Awards."

"Well, I owe you. For everything." Louise gave her a hug. "When this Albion thing is over, if… if you want me to model something for you for a… for a big Abyssal journal, I'll… I'll do it! S-something that isn't j-just armour, I mean!" Her voice rose in an embarrassing squeak.

"You mean it?" Louise nodded. "Dark Gods, you sound terrified," Jessica said, slightly impressed.

"Out of my wits," she agreed, biting her upper lip.

"I really appreciate it, I do. You won't regret it."

"I probably will," Louise said, the butterflies in her stomach already demanding their price for her impetuous charity.

"Yeah, well, you shouldn't." Jessica playfully punched her in the arm. "I'll find somewhere super-classy. Maybe it'll help the ol' self-confidence." She stretched. "So, why're you here, anyway? Sorry, I think we got side-tracked."

"Oh. Right. Yes." Louise rewound her mental state. Not the confusion that someone would ask her out, not fretting about whether it was right to go on a date with a demoness when she still loved Henrietta, not the curiosity about why Jessica and her cousin were getting on… ah ha! There it was! Sharp, acidic rage! "Emperor Lee is a jerk and an idiot and I need to show him I'm not a stupid little girl! We're going to find out where those things went that the huge jerkface sold to the Albionese!"

"... oh boy, here we go again."

"Now, Jessica, time for you to trial out that armour I made you make for yourself. And I'll go round up the minions from where they're tipping over cows or torturing chickens or disturbing the rest of long-dead halflings or whatever they're up to."

"Uh, Lou, didn't you send them off with Tifa and co?"

Louise smiled, showing her teeth. "I wasn't going to let her get my effective minions killed. I only sent her the useless ones."