Sanctuary of The Odd

I was requested to appear in the next Matriarch Meeting to answer their questions. Along with being forbidden from bringing non-minutians, I've also been ordered to not bring any of my own clan with me, and that included Braddy apparently. Matriarchs, and lords in my case, show power with numbers. They'll often bring whole processions of their most prominent clan members. The only matriarchs generally expected to come alone are the ones with empty nests, in that case coming on your own is a sign of pride. To order me to leave my numbers behind is a sign that I've MAJORLY pissed them off. Considering what I did, that sounds about right.

It's also a strategic move on their part. Now the only minutians standing by my side are outsiders who are willing to risk their reputations to justify what I did. Well, even if it means I have to stand alone, I'm fine with that. I'm so used to doing that already for myself, so to do it for others sounds like a rewarding experience.

On a designated day, an unmarked void ship came through the facade and landed near the palace. It was shaped like a wheelless hearse with no windows on any sides of it. If this wasn't announced I'd half expect I was being kidnapped. Climbing in a portal that opened up, I was left alone in a dark room as the ship rocked to life. It was hard to tell, but I assumed we were moving through the void.

After a long wait, the shaking of the ship stopped and the portal opened once again. I stepped out to see I was standing on a small island floating in a tiny bubble of a universe. In front of me was a minutian mansion, several times bigger than the one my clan built for Leahdah. A rusty sign on its gate read "Bloody Boomer Clan Mansion. Defenders of Tradition and History." I couldn't believe it. A minutian clan settled in on this tiny rock?

Then I noticed the high amounts of traffic coming in and out from this universe, and I glanced over at the fully functioning and busy as heck fueling station that shared this island. I could see void ships of all shapes and sizes being plugged in before the pilots headed into the convenience store/rest area to buy drinks and snacks. The entirely organic ships were feeding on massive amounts of void krill that would pour out of a money operated chute. Did the clan get founded to protect the fuel station? I didn't see a single minutian working there.

When I turned my head back towards the mansion, I saw another of my kind approaching me. She had short scraggy brown hair and silver eyes.... wait. "A Wolf Pack Minutian?"

"Smalls Wolfpack. I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you, Lord Panchi."

That name... "You were Raina's cellmate?"

"Heh, yeah." She said with a chuckle. "Lexine pulled some strings and sprung me from the brink a few days ago. When I heard what Boss Raina's friend was about to go through, I asked to be sent here to back ya up!"

She was really going to go up to bat for a stranger just from a tenuous association? "You know what I'm in trouble for, right?"

"Yeah, that's the reason I volunteered for this. I'm all in for burning down their system. That's why I go by 'he/him' now. Fuck what those crusty losers think."

"Hell yeah!" I gave him a high five. I jive with this guy.

He led me through the building. Maybe he'd be willing to give some answers. "So why is there a clan out here of all places?"

"Ah, a great battle of the god war happened here. Some 'final destination' type shit, ya know? The Bloody Boomers wanted to preserve it. Much good that did, most of it weathered away over the years. Much of the clan became truckers because of the fuel station that moved in."

That connects a lot of dots. "I'm aware it's an empty nest now." Much of the building is empty. The only people here are the guests for the meeting today and the non-minutian wait staff.

"Hey, wait a minute, have you never been here before?" He said, cocking an eyebrow.

"Nope. My mom stopped being invited to meetings after I was born."

"Oh... right." He fell silent after that. I’m sure he had heard of Leahdah by reputation.

He brought me to a room where all my allies were waiting for me. Matriarch Dustwallow, the mother of the clan that used to reside in this building, gave me a glare and shouted. "What were you thinking, Lord Panchi!"

I was taken aback by her accusatory greeting. Was expecting this from the meeting proper, not in the prelude to it.

She continued. "Why'd you go do something so stupid? Now, as moderator, I can't even defend you today without looking biased. How could you do something this dumb!"

Her clan were defenders of tradition, so it made sense she would be mad.

I looked over towards MahStar, the capitalistic mother of the Dragon Fang Clan. "Don't expect me to defend you either. There's no profit motive in it."

Yeah, that sounds about right for her.

Matriarch Archea of the Ancient Ones Clan however, came over and patted me on the shoulder. "I'll stand by you. Don't worry."

Matriarch Aria of the Siren's Songs approached me as well. "I started all this, and I fully intend to stand by you to the end, Lord Panchi."

I smiled. I was glad to have allies.

A little while after, Smalls led Archea, Aria, and I out of the room and into what was a giant ballroom. The room was decorated bright and cheery with motivational posters on the walls. It was loosely furnished with couches positioned in a large circle that had completely been filled up by matriarchs who were fidgeting on flower throw pillows. It looked like a meeting for moms with a tone of tribunal. Dustwallow, who was behind a podium, gave me a scathing look. From the direction we entered, we were all left standing, all eyes on us. A firing squad of judgements, locked and loaded, ready to fire.

"Lord Panchi. We've called you here to answer for your misconduct." The elderly minutian began, her voice reverberating around the hall. "We have received evidence that one of your own, a mere white belt named 'Woob,' is pregnant." Gasps and murmurs spread across the room as she continued. "You know that only masters are allowed to have children, yet not only did you not stop her from doing this, but we have a strong case that you may have even supported her! Do you deny it?"

"I do not deny it. All of it is true." This led to more gasps.

When Woob confided in me that she wanted children, I encouraged her to go through with it. I promised I'd back her up against the matriarchs, and I came here to fulfill that promise. (REF: Ch. 125) After thinking it over, she decided to do it, and now not only has she gained 7 inches in height, but she had a noticeable bulge developing in her belly. It's no wonder the Matriarchs found out about it.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Sneered one of the moms from clear across the room.

"It was a logical course of action." I simply said, leading to more insufferable gasps. "The minutian population has gone from 1 million at the end of the God War, to 100,000 currently. If we don't do something to change course, our kind is due for extinction. We have people who are willing to have kids, so why not let them?"

"Because it'll bring down the matriarch system!" Shouted another. "The species will be in complete chaos without our guidance! If you throw a wrench in that, it could kill us faster!"

"If the matriarch hierarchy can't even keep us from extinction, then maybe it's not as good at keeping the peace as may you think." The room was getting more and more restless. "Reform could be inevitable, so why not be the ones on top of it? Besides, you'd still goddamn rule! Can't you maintain your grip without being the only tall ones around?"

The room's attitude was transitioning from horror to disgust. They started booing.

"Silence!" Shouted Dustwallow. "Silence, the lot of you!"

And in response, one said what had been on many of their minds. "You're just shielding her because she's your ally!"

At that comment, the elder shouted, sending out a shockwave that tossed around a number of people. "SHUUTTT UPPPP!!!"

The room fell silent. After a moment, Dustwallow continued. "While it's true I am an ally of Sanctuary, I do not condone Lord Panchi's actions. He will have to do A LOT to regain my trust again after this, so don't you dare doubt my loyalty to this counsel or for tradition!" She gave off an exaggerated huff and then turned her gaze towards me. "If you actually cared about increasing the population, you'd in vitro some babies yourself! Don't judge how we conduct ourselves when you have no skin in the game!"

Well, she had me there. I didn't have an immediate comeback for that. I couldn't exactly play the ‘I didn't want to’ card when I played up such noble intentions.

The elderly matriarch grunted. "Is there anything else you'd like to say?"

If this were months ago, this would have been the end of the meeting. I'd walk out flipping off the matriarchs and then forge my own path forward without their help. It's exactly how I would have done things if I had to answer for what I did the same day I encouraged Woob to have a child. However, things are different now.

"You're wrong."

"What do you mean?" She said with a cocked eyebrow.

"I do have skin in the game." I have Belovi in my life now, and she changed everything. I stepped out and faced the crowd. "Have you ever had to tell one of your own kids they can't be a mother? So many of them want so deeply to be parents, to have what you all take for granted, but can't because of an arbitrary rule, because they don't live up to your standards. Is it really our place to tell them who they are allowed to be?"

The reaction from the crowd was mixed. Some were disgusted, some were confused, but some were intently watching me.

I continued. "Don't you remember, when they were still young, they'd smile all the time?" At least most of them did. "The ones that had to give up on their dreams, when was the last time they smiled like that? If we're not protecting the joy of our kids, then what is the point?" I clasped my hands together and pleaded. "If you won't do it for your species, then think of the happiness of your children. Please."

The matriarchs were looking between each other, not sure how to react to this genuine plea from what they regarded as the 'trouble lord.' Then the silence was undercut by footsteps. Gasps once again spread through the room as they all stared slackjawed at the source. I turned to see what they were reacting to: Matriarch MahStar had left her seat and was moving towards me. She joined me by my side.

Then the capitalist minutian turned to the crowd, and with a heavy sigh, she explained. "I remember when my FoeStar was little. She so badly wanted to be a mother, but she couldn't get far in her training. I still remember the face she made the day I told her she needed to give up on it. It broke my heart, but I didn't think there was anything I could do back then. Not too long ago, now in her twilight years, she's adopted three little girls. She's so happy now..." I could see tears welling up in her eyes. "I wonder, if I had been brave enough to stand up for her all those years ago, maybe she could have been following her dream this whole time. Maybe, she could have been that happy all along. That's what I should have been striving for this whole time."

The room was aghast, shocked that the matriarch most infamous for caring exclusively about profit margins had a soul all along.

She turned to me, and gave me a bow. "Thank you, Lord Panchi. Woob is lucky to have you as her Lord."

However, I already knew she was selling herself too short. I touched her shoulder, which caused her to tilt her head up. "Braddy and I saw you, when you had your family up in Sanctuary. (REF: ch. 110) Even from a distance, I could see how good you were to those kids. So don't worry, I can't say how you were in the past but, they are all lucky to have you now."

MahStar was at first, surprised to hear me compliment her, but that expression was quickly replaced with a tearful smile. She offered her palm and we clasped hands together firmly. In that moment, she actually became my ally, and a friend.

"I had no idea the library was so dangerous..." I said, holding my head.

"It's true, Lord Panchi."

Second had returned from a fairly perilous trip into the Kimathi Library, and he just got done reporting to me what happened as we waited on the old lackee. I was glad I sent Braddy along with him, but it sounded like if they hadn't exploited a loophole relating to narration, they'd still be there. I could have lost them both...  "If I had known this could happen, I would have forbidden you from going." I probably would have asked Anne to do it. She could literally phase through walls after all, the library couldn't keep her.

"With all due respect, it worked out, sir! I brought an expert back with me! It was more than worth it!"

"Nothing's worth trading your freedom for!" I barked, my hands were so clenched, they could almost leave indentations in my palms.

"L-Lord Panchi?" At the sound of my fury, he immediately got on his knees, his eyes wide eyed in fear.

I breathed, letting my rage settle down. "No amount of info is more important than your life, Second." My eyes met his. "You're no pawn to me. You're a friend. Remember that."

"My lord..." His eyes were shimmering at my words, he was practically in tears.

I offered him a hand. "Please stand up."

His mouth curled into a big smile as he took it. "Yes, sir!"

I helped him to his hooves, and we went back to watching the scene in front of us. Lexine had brought the old lackee into a room behind sound proof glass. She was really railing him about something and he in turn had a dead look in his eyes. Anne and Raina have talked in full about how terrifying the vampire could be. I honestly wouldn't know, she's too afraid of me to mess with me.

"I wonder what they are talking about." Second pondered

"Probably some time travel shit or something. I don't care." I prefer to live in the present than have a 5D chess match against temporal mechanics. Current history is fucked up enough as it is.

After a long time, the pair finally left the room. The old lackee looked as if his soul had left his body. I gave a small prayer to the minutian hero for his current dead brain.

Second started to move towards the man, but he turned around to me and said, "thank you for caring about me, Lord Panchi."

I smiled. "Of course. Just don't give me more of a reason to worry."

"Oh, I've had enough adventure for a lifetime. I'll stick to paperwork." He shared a laugh.

We reached the side of the old man. I gave him a polite bow. "Greetings, I'm Lord Panchi, Chief of Security."

The old man shot me a confused look, blinked, and then shook his head violently as if trying to get the demons out of his skull. After a few seconds, he returned my bow. "I am Daichi, lackee under the late Demon Lord Ewe. It's a pleasure."

We began to walk. "Didn't know lackee horns came in different colors. I'm so used to the black horns."

"Oh yeah, it's different for each swarm. I heard of some even having rainbow horns."

What? Damn, that would have been awesome! "Did you personally know your demon lord?"

He smiled nostalgically. "Oh kinda. Or least the version of her that served under-" and his grin suddenly dropped. "Uh, yes, I did know my demon lord." He croaked out as he rubbed his shoulder nervously.

"You're quite lucky!" Second stated. "I hope I get to meet my demon lord someday!"

"Yeaaaahhhh..." Daichi began to sweat.

Whatever was causing his hesitation, it felt like a headache and a half, so I didn't pry any further.

They had converted the ballroom back into a throne room. Anne and Raina were seated in anticipation of the new guest. Off to the side stood Lexine, Coozin, and Belovi.

Daichi stood before the royalty and bowed. "G-G-Greetings Princess. M-My name is Dai-Daichi." He seemed to struggle to look Anne in the eyes.

"Greeting Daichi! I am Princess Anne O'Maley."

We went through the room, one by one introducing ourselves. We eventually circled around to my kid.

"I'm Belovi..." She said with the best curtsy her little hooves could manage.

"I know, Second told me all about you!"

"You're friends with Uncle Second?" Her eyes shimmered, any nervousness drastically fading from her demeanor. The old lackee laughed and patted her head. 

Daichi went into explaining about brainy lackees and their role in the lackee species. I listened carefully, this was about my daughter after all. I could see that Coozin was locked in, too.

After his explanation, we went right into follow-up questions.

"Why was she born with glasses?" Anne asked.

"Oh, all brainy lackees are born with bad vision to encourage them to play into the whole 'smart person' stereotype."

"But you don't even wear glasses." Observed Coozin.

He grinned awkwardly. "I switched to contacts a long time ago."

Talk about cheating the system!

Raina had a question next. "Why is she good at math but not reading?"

"Language is ever evolving, so it's important for her to learn the current lingo from the ground up so she can pick up the nuances. However, while you may discover new equations, math never changes, so there's no harm in knowing it from the outset."

"Ohhh!" The monster princess seemed impressed.

Coozin raised her hand. "So you can't change your role like other lackees can? Isn’t that a bit constraining?"

"Well, it's more like we have more freedom." Daichi explained. "We develop emotionally much like other mortal beings do, so we have as much liberty as every non-lackee in regard of growing into who we are as people. That said, no matter what we do, we'll always be brainy lackees. From the very moment we make the choice in the admin's office."

Second nearly toppled over in shock. "The Administer Lackee is real?!?" He shouted. His jaw was practically on the floor.

Daichi glanced at him for a second in confusion before it clicked. "Oh yeah, I guess you wouldn't remember character creation." He chuckled "Yeah, she is a baddass sexy babe who helps you pick your starting specs. Legs for days. I mean, our kind lack genitalia, but my god if I had..."

Coozin pressed her hands over Belovi's ears. "Not in front of the child!"

"Wait a minute." I finally spoke up. "I thought all lackees were aroace?"

"Huh?" The old lackee was baffled at my question.

Second backed me up. "So far, all lackees in the current swarm have identified as aromantic asexual."

"Huh." Daichi's eyes were swimming with thought for a moment. "Well, every swarm has their quirks. I remember everyone in mine was OBSESSED with corn!"

We ran out of questions soon after. "Thank you for your information, kind sir!" Anne said. "You are welcome to live in Sanctuary, if you choose."

"With all due respect, I think I'll move to Annesville. You can still contact me if I'm living there, if you need me again that is."

She cocked her head. "Is there a reason you don't want to live in the capital?"

"To be honest, I feel like I'll be plagued with headaches if I lived here." He shot Lexine a look.

Anne glanced where he was staring and immediately understood. "Got it. I'll tell the mayor to prepare a nice house for you."

"Thank you, my Princess." He said, giving one more polite bow.

Second would eventually be sent a gigantic bill. He was charged for taking tomes from the library. Said tomes included Daichi, Braddy, and himself. Needless to say, no one is paying that.

Though, it looked like there won't be anyone TO pay. After news spread about prisoners escaping the library, attendance dropped practically overnight. In response to less traffic, the library uprooted itself and launched itself out of the universe. Who knows where it is now, but it took the staff with them. Hopefully they are alright, unless if they were complicit in all that then screw them.

Whimsy the Meme was given a reduced sentence because she was coerced into complying with the archive. She was overjoyed with the fact her case was even taken into consideration and is now gleefully serving her sentence up in the prison. I heard she plans to join Sanctuary once she's done her time.

True to his word, Daichi moved to Annesville. I heard he's been ravaging the chess playing community down there.

As for my family, well, we've made an appointment with the Darby girls. Now that we know Belovi's role, we had something to go with for her new clothes. The fawn looked online for nerdy girl stereotypes, and constructed something that combined a school girl uniform with a little nerdy vest. By the hero, she was so cute!

"Papa!" She exclaimed excitedly as she spun around in her new outfits. "Clothes are perfect! They go spinny!"

"Very much agree! They are perfect!" I couldn't help but notice that the Darby sisters applied the colors of my uniform to her clothes. She really did look like my daughter now!

Coozin was a combination of overjoyed and relieved. Her endless quest of getting her kid to wear actual clothing was finally over. She started to play with her as the fawns and I watched gleefully. My heart was at peace viewing this scene. Nothing could ruin this moment.

…and the moment was interrupted by my phone going off. I checked it and I let out an immediate groan. I was being summoned by the matriarchs to, as they put it, ‘raise concerns over my misconduct as a minutian lord.’

I sighed as I glanced up at the ceiling. I guess they finally found out about that. It was time for me to go in front of the firing squad.

-----

As we soared upwards, I could hear a voice calling my name. I had my wyrm slow to a halt and glanced in the direction of the sound.

A minutian was flying directly towards us from below. "Second!"

"Braddy!" I yelled happily.

The wyrm flew down to some nearby solid ground and I swiftly dismounted. As soon as we were on our feet, he pulled me into a giant hug. "I was so worried!" He pulled back to look me over. "Are you okay? Nothing is broken?"

"Yes, I landed on something soft."

"I went looking after you! When I started to think maybe you fell through somewhere, I even started destroying part of the library for you fell-"

"Wait a minute," said Daichi as he shakily climbed off the wyrm. "You were damaging the library? How were you not banished?"

The small warrior looked between him and then me. "Who is this? Also what's up with the baby void wyrm?"

As I began to explain everything, the elderly lackee walked up to Braddy and inspected his wrist. "Your bracelet is gone."

He confirmed what the man just observed. "Oh, so it is."

Daichi scratched his chin in confusion. "You're part of the library now, but it should have punished you when you damaged it. Why didn't it?"

"Does it matter? We can leave with his pocket dimension right now!" I pointed out. There's no reason we have to focus on that when an easy out is literally standing next to us.

"Well, if my theory is correct, we could free way more people than just ourselves."

"What do you mean?"

"What is going on?!" Braddy said, completely baffled.

"We just need some way to send your voice throughout the library..." the elderly scratched his chin, ignoring our protests. "...we could start a library riot!"

"Riot?"

"Who's rioting?!?"

"NO YOU WILL NOT!" Whimsy had appeared out seemingly nowhere. "You will not start a riot, and you won't escape!"

"Braddy, catch her." Daichi commanded.

A confused boy band bruiser leapt up and grabbed onto the meme. Despite being just a digital thing, he was still able to grab on. Is that a minutian ability?

"Wait what? Library, stop him!" Pleaded the glowing ball. "He's molesting me, stop him!" 

Braddy looked incredibly uncomfortable with the accusations being sent his direction, but he didn't loosen his grip in the slightest.

The old man walked up to the meme and leaned down to be eye-to-eye. "The library can't punish us. We're backed with too much narrative importance right now. Turns out, the only thing that can fight fact is fiction."

"The library can't punish? But what about..."

"It can't punish you either." A mischievous grin spread on his face. "Neither can anyone involved in Second’s story. We're all safe for, I predict, 24 hours even after the narration goes away."

The meme is stunned, wide-eyed, the drawn on line that represented her jaw had dropped.

"So, let's say, you help us access some sort of comm system so we can spread said protection to the other prisoners here, maybe we'll take you away from here. You'd be free of the library."

"You liar!" Screamed Whimsy. "You're just going to lock me up the second we're in YOU'RE territory!"

"True. You did kidnap us." Braddy said, shrugging. "But you can defend yourself in your trial."

The meme gasped. "I'm getting DUE PROCESS?!"

The minutian cocked his head. "Uh, yeah? Everyone does."

"Well, SIGN ME UP! LET'S START THIS RIOT BOYS!" She flew up and down in the air as if she were jumping.

The fact she had that low of a standard for herself was genuinely sad, but hopefully she can find something better in Sanctuary. Maybe she can be given a robot body or something. I mean, after she did her time.

After discussing our plan, we all got onto Violet, and it started flying upwards. We needed to be on the wyrm so we can easily get out of here the second the shit hits the fan. Whimsy turned into a microphone and moved to be in front of me. "Everyone! As soon as you hear my voice, you are protected from the library's wrath! For the next day, it can't stop you. It's time for us to rise up! It's time to show this archive that we are more than objects to be selfishly stored away and forgotten! That we are more than historical artifacts! Today, WE SHOW THEM WE EXIST!"

My voice reached from the furthest halls, the longest corridors, the deepest chambers, reaching every trapped soul in the library. The consequences were immediate. Nearby, we hear a hole punched through a wall, a minutian was immediately throwing around books. The pieman from earlier had left her hole and was now singing a fight song. Even the bunny girl had pulled out weapons and was riddling the library walls with bullet holes. We might have overdone this a little bit.

Braddy stuck out his hand and a portal opened up near us. "Let's get out of here!"

Very much agreed, the chaos was reaching us FAST! The wyrm quickly flew into the portal, a little too quickly as we were immediately met with dirt. The bird crashed head first, sending the rest of us flying forward. I hit the earth with a loud thud. I think some of it got in my mouth.

Spitting out the soil, I took a moment to look around. What was in front of us looked like a rockstar's mansion, complete with swimming pool, a spit shine polish on everything, and impractically large windows. Climbing onto my knees, I looked up to see a blue sky, but I could see faintly through it the void, with thousands of universes dotting it.

"This place is in the void?" I said gobsmacked. "Where are we?"

"This is my pocket dimension!" Braddy exclaimed. "I used to host parties here all the time!"

"Your pocket dimension is in the void?"

"Oh, not exactly. We're in another reality technically, one that's underneath the other one. Though, if you do fly up high enough, you will be thrown from this reality and into the void. Had that happen a few times with drunken winged guests."

So this pocket reality exits out into the void? That's convenient. I glanced over toward Violet and then to Daichi, who both just got done climbing out of the dirt. "I'm going to send the wyrm off to be with its kind."

"That's for the best." The elderly lackee said, nodding in agreement.

Almost as if it knew what was going to happen, it gave me a sad glance. "Don't give me that puppy dog look, you'll be too big for Sanctuary when you grow up." I stepped up and gave it another double hand pet. He sadly cooed as I gently pressed my forehead against it, being careful not to poke it with my head spikes. "Goodbye, Violet."

It called sadly once again before we parted. The void wyrm started flying upwards. It gave me one final pathetic glance before it disappeared into the void.

"You did the right thing, Second." The old man placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, it should be with its own kind."

"No, I meant it would only think of you as its mother when you're narrating. It would probably eat us as soon as your story segment was over."

"Wha- WHY DIDN'T YOU MENTION THAT SOONER?! What if that ended with us flying into this portal?!?

"Well, we had the minutian master with us, so we would have been fine either way. I think"

Good grief...

Braddy opened up a portal on the front end of the property and we all exited out in front of his house in Sanctuary, which looked exactly the same as the one from his pocket dimension.

Boy band grabbed onto the meme. “Alright, let’s go. As mentioned you’ll be entitled to a trial.”

Whimsy simply bounced in the air happily, singing as the minutian pulled her along. “Yayyy!! Due process! Due process!”

I turned to Daichi. “Let’s report to the higher ups that you are here.” And started to lead him through town… only to immediately run into Lexine. “Lady Lexine?” I was shocked. I didn’t expect to run into her almost immediately.

“Luitenant Lexine?” The old man had his mouth covered in shock.

“Wait, you know her?”

“Well, yeah, we served on the same ship together in the God War!”

“Nice to see you Daichi.” Lexine grabbed the old man’s shoulder, the look on her face was dark and scary. “Let’s have a conversation about discretion.”

She dragged him off to the palace while I followed close by.

-----

AUTHOR'S NOTE: My Earth counterpart has been drawing void wyrms since elementary school. She used to doodle them in the margins of her school notes, depicting them flying around the page. It's both an honor of her and I to finally bring them to life in story after 30 years!

"The library exists to preserve rare tomes and artifacts. You're quite lucky, you'll live for all of eternity." He said, his eyes fixed into the ceiling, so distant and cold. "I've been trying to age myself in hopes I would die that way, but I'm getting the feeling it won't allow that even."

"You speak as if the library is alive."

"Oh, at this point it's a living breathing thing that survives on storing knowledge. After billions of years of surviving through magic wars and demon lord uprisings, it's only natural things would turn out this way."

Of course the library is alive! Why should I be shocked anymore? "But why does it want me? It already has you."

"Heh, the first lackees in 10,000 years, I'm going to guess the library thought that was noteworthy enough." He chuckled. "Lemme guess, Whimsy decided to join you?"

"The very suspicious meme?"

"That's a very accurate description of her. She's the library's lapdog. Probably sent her out to lead you into a trap."

"I knew she was up to no good!" And yet my foreknowledge did absolutely nothing to stop the inevitable. Was she the one that cut my rope? It had to be her!

He sighed. "In her defense, she's a prisoner here, too. If she doesn't do the library's bidding, she'll be deleted." But then he shrugged. "I mean, that's what she says when she comes down here to vent."

Yeah, not exactly in a forgiving mood 5 seconds after receiving confirmation that she trapped me, so I'll shove that in the filing cabinet of my mind until I'm in a better position to be amicable. "Well, can we at least find a way to communicate with someone outside this room? My minutian master friend could get us out of here if we could reach him." I was testing my phone through this whole conversation; no signal.

"Hmmm, a master huh? Haven't met one of those in a long time..." He said as he searched his thoughts. "It's true, we could escape using his pocket dimension ability."

"Right! If we can tell him where we are, he could bust us out!"

"Yeah, that's a problem though. If he tried to destroy parts of the library, he would be immediately banished. He'd be thrown into the void faster than he could say 'destroy the world.'"

That was a weirdly specific thing to say. Anyways, I had forgotten about the rules of the library. If it could immediately ban him, that would be a problem for us. Then I had a lightbulb moment. The bracelets!

One of the rules stated if we take off the tracking bracelet they slapped on us, we'd be banished! I reached for my wrist and... Wait, where is it?

"Ah, went for that thing did you? That merged into your body the second you got trapped. The library no longer considers you a 'guest.'"

It's inside my body?!? I almost gagged in disgust and horror. No, I can't think about that right now. I'm on to something about the rules. I got up, grabbed a book off the shelf and I threw it hard against the ground. The noise from it reverberated through the large room, but outside that, it did nothing.

"You can't be banished when it wants you here. Though, usually we are punished for damaging library property. Why are you okay?" He glanced at me with a measured look.

I couldn't be bothered with that. I had to get out of here! It didn't matter what happened to me, but I needed to tell Lord Panchi about what I discovered! That was extremely important!

I stopped myself and took a deep breath. Panicking wasn't going to get me anywhere. For now, I was going to believe in my friend. "I know Braddy, he's tenacious like his brother." I plopped down next to Daichi. "Even if he gets banished, he will come right back. He wouldn't stop. He'll save us eventually." I just have to believe things will be okay.

My elderly companion was silent for a long time. Finally, his voice cut through the tense air like a knife. "So, I assume Braddy is the master you know?"

Oh, kinda said his name without clarifying. "Yes, he is."

"Huh. I thought minutians were entirely female. Considering they reproduce asexually."

"Oh, they are born female, but some might identify as male later in life." I don't know a whole lot about minutian biology, but I do know that much.

"Huh, and it must be pretty common if he has a brother."

"Oh no, Lord Panchi is non-binary, any pronouns. I just go with he/him personally." I've always looked up to Lord Panchi, and it seemed like those under him used masculine pronouns, so I naturally did as well.

"Lord Panchi..." He said lost in thought. Then he suddenly lit up. "Wait, are you from Sanctuary?"

I did a double take. "I-I am uh... how do you know about Sanctuary? It's less than a year old!" Did Whimsy tell him?

"Of course it's Sanctuary, where else would..." He trailed off, not even considering responding to my question. Then suddenly, he glanced towards me with a sharp gaze. "Who is the leader of Sanctuary?"

"Huh? Uh, Princess Anne O'Maley."

"Heh, Anne O'Maley. Like 'Anomaly' but turned into a real name. That's clever." He laughed.

"Uh." I was kind of lost. Why did his mind go in that direction?

Suddenly, his eyes widened and he shot me a look. "Wait, are you here on Sanctuary's behalf?"

"Uh yes, because I wanted to identify Belovi's job for them."

He leapt to his feet and paced the room, rubbing his chin in thought. I was surprised that the man who needed a cane until now was suddenly walking like he never had a limp in his life. Suddenly, he made a beeline to the shelf and pulled out a tome. It was a hard bound book with a purple and pink striped cover. He flipped it open, and his eyes lit up at the contents.

I got on my feet and walked over to him. "What is? What did you see?"

He smiled and then leaned over so I could also see inside, and I was shocked to see the text in the book was literally writing itself. It was like an invisible typewriter was filling in the page as we read. However, the weird thing is when I looked more closely at what was being written. Just above two paragraphs I could see the words 'Uh yes, because I wanted to identify Belovi's job for them.' in quotations, the words I literally just said. I glanced at the newest writing and literally saw it describing what I'm literally doing right now.

"It's a 'Finefeather' book." He explained. "It catalogues whenever something is narrated with her voice."

He flipped back and I saw an illustration of Daichi standing in front of two rows of books. Looking at the contents, this appeared to be his introduction in the story.

"It appears your tale is being narrated." He slammed the book shut. "Fortunately it wasn't your minutian friend that stole the voice. This gives us some options."

Before I could process what he was saying, he took my wrist and led me to the large tank on the other side of the room. The bird-like creature was still staring at me with those giant big eyes.

"This, my new friend, is a baby void wyrm."

A void wyrm? I had encountered some on the way here, but I only saw its gigantic eye, I hadn't gotten a good look at it. I scanned the creature in front of me from top to bottom. For something so terrifying, it was kind of cute. Wait a minute. "Don't void wyrms attack people who are narrating?"

"The adults do, but not so much for the chicks." A giant smile spread on his face as he explained. "It is said young void wyrms are raised on the narration of their parents, so they are naturally attracted toward hearing that voice. Right now, you're its mother."

What does bird narration even sound like? I didn't ask that, but it was on my mind.

He grinned at me as he stepped closer. "I tricked Whimsy to store this creature down here in hopes I could escape on it, but it won't listen to a word I say. However, it will listen to you."

Then he reached for a lever that was labeled 'release.' "Wait!" I shouted, but he had already pulled on it, sending the top of the cage flying.

The creature blinked, looked up, then back at me, then up, and then back at me. It hovered out of its cell, her body coiling behind her. My eyes widened at the sight of the freed beast. I was slowly backing away until I took the wrong step and toppled backwards onto my rear end. The creature lunged and I closed my eyes in anticipation of my fate.

...which didn't arrive. I felt something big and fluffy against my body. I opened my eyes to see the void wyrm was rubbing against me, its eyes closed in bliss.

"H-Hi?" I reached out and petted it. It cooed gleefully. It was actually extremely cute. Feeling my reservations melt away, the ends of my mouth curled up as I went in for a two handed pet. "I'm going to call you Violet!" I said, jovially.

“Took you that quickly to name it? It took a week before I gave it the name ‘Wynona.’”

“Heh, Violet Wynona. Has a ring to it!”

The elderly lackee let out an intentional grunt, as if to get his mind back on track. "With the wyrm's allegiance, we simply have to narrate what happens and the wyrm will do it." He pointed towards the ceiling. "If you tell it to break through the ceiling, it will."

"Uh, I can't hear narration, no less control it."

"That's fine, just think what happens, it'll still hear it."

Hmmm... Voilet breaks a hole in the ceiling. Suddenly, it swings her big body upward, cracking it against the barrier above, creating a large opening. I was super impressed! “Good girl, Violet!.” The Wyrm cooed happily in response.

“Now we just have to fly up and find your friend of yours.”

With that, the bird laid its body low before me so I could climb on. I quickly took off my tie and plopped the fedora back on. I hopped onto the wyrm's back with a fearless gusto.

Daichi nervously climbed up behind me. "I'm envious of your ability to get rid of all fear with the drop of a hat."

"Hold on tight!" I said. The wyrm flew upwards through the hole in the ceiling. The old man behind me began to scream, but he'll have to deal. We are on our way out of here!

We stood in front of a giant precipice leading down to the rest of the library. Even our first destination, chamber 36 required us to repel. I checked my gear: a special hook that released when I hit landfall. I attached it to the edge of the cliff and then did an inspection on literally everything. My life was going to be dependent on this stuff.

After making a thorough check, I glanced over to see Braddy and Whimsy just watching me. "Aren't you going to prepare? You don't want your equipment failing."

He simply looked awkward. "Yeah, so... I can fly."

“So can I!” Bounced around the meme

"Oh..."

What followed was me repelling alone as Braddy and Whimsy flew next to me and served as my cheering section. It was kind of awkward. Why can't lackees fly?

When we hit the bottom, I retracted my climbing equipment. Whimsy turned into a map for me. "Huh, chamber 36 is nearby." I trailed my line of sight until I saw the path we needed to take: an opening that was only 7 inches in height. We'd have to crawl through "Oh, that's going to be cramped as all hell."

He simply shrugged. "I'm a minutian so..."

Goddamn it.

What followed was me struggling my way through the hole, shuffling myself along with my feet. I had to breathe out just to fit in there. Meanwhile, my travel companion very easily traversed the hole and was cheering me on from the other side. I'm spotting a trend.

Of course, our new meme friend easily passed through. "You fleshy people are so bulky!"

I wish she would reserve judgement. Finally, we reached the Demonology Archive, and suddenly a clown demon appeared out of nowhere. "WELCOME!"

I nearly fell backwards off my feet, but Braddy caught me.

The demon, who I assume was a pieman, bowed towards us. "Welcome to the Demonology Archive! I am ★✧★✶☆✦, but you can call me Starshine! I'm the manager of this wing!"

"Uh-" I was so taken aback to find someone here after that squeeze that it took me a moment to compose myself. "I'm Second, currently an Adventurer Lackee."

The minutian beside me did a small bow. "Braddy."

"Hey Starshine!" Said the meme excitedly.

"Oh, you brought Whimsy... great..."

That reaction was vaguely concerning, but I can't really ask questions with her next to me. "We're looking for books on lackees."

She immediately perked up. "Oh! One second!" She darted around the library, grabbing books off the shelves before returning and plopping a small pile in front of us. "This is everything we have!"

I thanked the library clown and dug into the books. However, ultimately, it didn't say anything we didn't already know. I did catalogue some information for my demon friends back in Sanctuary.

"Thanks for the help!" I told the demon.

"You're more than welcome!" She bowed again.

I glanced at the tiny hole I had to go through again to leave, and then turned back. "Huh, sorry to pry, but like, do you commute through the squeeze everyday? Or is there another way out of here?"

"Oh." She awkwardly tapped her colorful nails together. "I live here, actually."

"Y-You live here?"

She glanced at Whimsy again, suddenly shifted to a forced smile and then started pushing me towards the hole. "Okay, back out the way you came! Thank you for visiting! Bye!!!"

That was quite weird. Something was up here. I shared a glance with Braddy, and I could tell he had the same thought.

Chamber 93rd wasn't much help either. We were greeted by a strange pale skinned girl in a bunny outfit who called herself Amaris. She had the same nervous glances at Whimsy, she also seemed to live here. The nervous feeling was welling up inside of me as we went further and further down, as if we were being led to our doom.

It happened when I was repelling towards the 140th chamber. Braddy and Whimsy were cheering me on. "You can do it!" "Yay! It's like falling with style!" I did my best to ignore them.

There was a loud noise coming from far above us. I glanced up to see a boulder plummeting directly for the minutian. "Look out!" I shouted!

But before I could see his fate, I was suddenly falling. In my panic, I tried to reach for my line which I found was cut. I was now free falling a hundred feet straight down into the darkness.

POMF!

Thankfully, I landed on something soft. I restarted my lantern to find I had collided with some sort of shock absorbent material. Luck? Then again, considering my line was apparently severed, the timing of the boulder, and the vibes I've been getting so far, this feels way too planned.

I needed to find my way out of here. However, when I glanced up, I saw nothing but a ceiling. Did I phase through somehow? I doubted that the boulder would be enough to take out Braddy, so he should be reaching me by now. If I just phased through the floor, it would explain why he hasn't found me yet. He likely didn't even see where I went.

Getting my bearings, I shone my light around the room to find I had landed in another library section. A sign was posted above me that read "Memorial of the Final Demon Lord." This was my destination apparently. Well, considering it was on their map, there had to be a way out. They wouldn't advertise this chamber if it was inaccessible.

I climbed out from on top of the cushions and stood on my feet. I started searching for anything that could be an exit. Heck, I'd even take another tight squeeze. However, As I surveyed the room, I was suddenly greeted by a pair of giant eyes. I jumped back in surprise, but thanks to my persona, it once again didn’t take long for me to calm myself.

In front of me was a tank containing a strange creature just sitting there in one of the corners. It had a bird head, and the body of a snake. It was roughly the size of a car. It was looking right at me. I couldn’t sense any malicious intent from that gaze. I walked up to the tank and placed a hand on the glass. 

"Hello?" I said impulsively. Probably wasn't a smart move. I guess the fearlessness of this adventurer form had its drawbacks. Though it seems to have worked out as it swam about happily before fixing its gaze on me again.

When its large body clanked against the tank as it did another happy little swim, I heard a rustling nearby. I moved my lantern towards the noise and I saw a pile of blankets that was now moving.

"Wha-" The person underneath threw off the blankets to reveal... a lackee. But, he was kind of different from the ones I'm familiar with. His horns were gold, his top half had no fur, instead showing skin like Belovi was. His hair was greying, his face was covered in wrinkles. I have never seen an elderly lackee before. Blinking awake, he glanced at me. "Who? What? How?" He exclaimed in confusion.

"Uh, hello, my name is Second... er, Second-in-Command Lackee, of the Sanctuary Swarm."

He cocked his head. "Has a new swarm cropped up after all this time?"

"Yes, first one in 10,000 years." Wait, does that mean this guy is... "Sorry to bother you, but, does that mean you're from the God War?"

The man climbed out of his pile of cushions, using a cane that was laying nearby to push himself up. I tried to offer help but he refused it. As soon as he was on his feet he scanned me from top to bottom with a trained eye. It made me wonder what kind of Lackee he was. After looking me over, he huffed. "Never thought I'd see another of my kind again. So your name is Second, am I right?"

"Second is just a nickname. My Demon Lord hasn't arrived yet, so there is no one to name me."

He cocked an eyebrow at me. "Is that so?"

"Uh, yes?"

"Hmmm." He scratched his chin. Lost in thought. I gave him his moment to think before he composed himself, and finally gave an introduction. "My designated name is Daichi, I'm a lackee under the late Demon Lord Ewe. I am a brainy lackee."

My eyes lit up at those final words. Maybe he'd have the answers I sought. "Excuse me, but the entire reason I came down here was because of this child lackee that-"

"Ah, you have a brainy lackee on her hands then. Only the brainy variety starts out like that. I certainly did."

An answer! Directly from the horse's mouth! "Why do brainy lackees start out as children?"

"Because adults are stringent in their ways. In order to learn and experience new things effectively, you need to be flexible, a flexibility you can only develop from childhood."

That made sense. The stubborn routines of my kind have frequently gotten us into trouble. We sat down on the cushions as he explained to me the purpose of brainy lackees. "We exist to experience new things so our knowledge will go to the information cloud. Doctor lackees only exist because a brainy lackee studied medicine and kicked off that whole job."

That explains why Coozin's recipe was suddenly thought up by our chef lackee. Belovi was taught how to make it and that was fed directly into the lackee pool of knowledge.

"Brainy lackees are very valuable to the advancement of our species. Your 'Belovi' is likely going to add new possibilities for our kind."

Then I remembered something. "Belovi has been really interested in spellwriting."

Daichi snorted. "Lackees can't even cast magic, why would she want to write spells?"

"I don't know. She's been just, really into it."

The old man laughed "This Sanctuary sounds like an odd place. Never heard of anyone bothering to teach a lackee stuff like that. Heck, our kind rarely gets to interact with magical types considering our ties with demons. Well, outside the battlefield at least."

"Heh, I guess, she'll have to be our little trailblazer."

"...so Belovi is her nickname, right?"

"Yes."

"And she answers to that name?"

"Pretty much."

He scratches his chin lost in thought.

"Uh, Mr. Daichi? Something up?"

He shook his head. "It's probably nothing."

"Uh, are you hiding something?"

"Look, every lackee has their destiny, if I say more I could interfere with that. So, please don't ask anymore about it."

"Uh, I don't understand but, I understand?"

It feels like I'm surrounded by people with secrets. Lexine, Sotakeh, Foxman, O'Bea, they all act like they know more than they let on. They behave like one word could destroy everything. It was kind of annoying, but I can't really complain if they don't want to tell me things. It was never really my place to know.

During the course of this conversation, I had taken off my adventurer's hat and loosely put on a tie so I could think clearly. Somehow, I felt way more at home with the Second-in-Command role.

Speaking of said role, thanks to my new friend I had just succeeded in my mission. "I can't wait to get back to Sanctuary and tell them about Belovi!"

However, Daichi grimaced. "Unfortunately, I have some bad news."

And the second he said it, my heart dropped. "I can't leave, can I?"

The next day, the ishiki drove us from our hotel and to the library gates. We waved them goodbye as we got in line to get in.

"I thought their kind were isolationists. I mean, considering they have a hive mind thing going." Braddy asked.

"Well, I guess you can be secretive and hospitable at the same time." Would explain politics.

"I guess they come in all kinds."

The line moved promptly along. We paid the entrance fee, purchased caving gear, and moved inside. We were met with The Grand Kimathi Library, a structure that expands out endless in front of us. This archive has been standing so long that entire wings have been constructed on top of the old ones until it slowly evolved into endless caves and catacombs full of knowledge. It's said that the secret to literally all power is hidden deep in its halls, but that is probably a myth. As we entered the mouth of the library, the air grew stagnant, voices echoed in the distance. It's as if we entered another realm entirely. Considering the multiverse we live in, that could very well be the case.

"Hey um, I realize I am far too late to ask, but are you sure you're cut out for this?" Braddy spoke with concern in his voice. "You don't seem the spelunking type."

He clearly didn't know a lot about lackees. I spotted changing rooms and pointed. "Let's gear up, you'll understand in a moment."

As soon as I was out of view, I took off my dress shirt and my necktie and packed them away into my inventory bag. I put my protective gear on, knee pads, elbow pads, harnesses, and rope. Because my horns largely protected my head, I only had a guard that protected my forehead and back head. Then for a finishing touch, I pulled out a fedora with horn holes cut into it, slipped it through my pincers and landed it snugly on top of my crown.

The moment the hat landed, a miraculous change happened. Suddenly, all knowledge on how to do administrator work suddenly faded away, and in its place were thoughts of adventure and intrigue. I peered down at my caving gear, and I suddenly knew how to use it. My heart was filled to bursting with confidence that I would survive any endeavor. I headed out of that booth with a boastful spring in my step. Braddy was waiting patiently outside, his gear already on.

"Are you itching for adventure?"

"Wh-What?" He was taken aback by my sudden change of tone. "Uh, Second-in-Command?"

I pushed the top of my hat and gave him a dazzling smile. "Please, just call me Second, the Adventurer Lackee!"

"So you just put on a hat and you become an entirely different person?"

As we headed for the directory, I had explained the concept of lackee jobs to Braddy, but he was still apparently confused by the concept.

"Putting on the hat allowed me to access the knowledge and experiences of an Adventurer."

"Where is this knowledge coming from exactly?"

"From lackees all throughout history." I said with pure gusto. "When past adventurers of my kind experienced and learned new things related to their job, that gets uploaded to the collective knowledge that can be accessed by future adventurers."

Usually those experiences aren't attached with memories, but many times skills and memories are intrinsically tied, which is why wearing this harness is so familiar to me.

"So, there's just, a pool of lackee knowledge floating out there somewhere?"

"Yeah, we don't know where this knowledge is stored. Some think there's a pocket dimension where it resides, some think it’s stored outside of time and space." There's legends about some sort of Administrator Lackee that oversees the entire species existing outside the known multiverses, but that's likely superstition.

"But, what about the first Adventurer Lackees?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there had to have been a first Adventurer Lackee, that person would have no knowledge to pull from, would they?"

"That... is a good question." I had never thought about the first adventurers, the first doctors, the first engineers, where did they get their knowledge from? I simply shrugged. "Maybe early lackees were different?" Who knows, maybe my great ancestors actually had to acquire their knowledge. Though, it doesn't make me feel great knowing my kind had apparently devolved into stealing knowledge over time.

Huh. If that were the case, maybe early lackees started out as kids? It would be difficult to experience new things with the inflexible mind of an adult. Maybe kid lackees were an evolutionary left over that most of the species lacks, kind of like humans that could wiggle their ears.

...wait a minute. As I remembered the role I suspected Belovi to be, considering what I just thought, maybe....

"Oh, hey! This terminal has a search function!" Shouted Braddy.

...and there it goes. It's hard to think critically in this form. I guess you don't need a lot going on upstairs to go on a life of ADVENTURE!

I strutted up to the console positioned in front of a giant screen. I typed into the search 'lackee' and were shown all results on the topic. There are a number of thrill seekers who happen to be bookworms that have made it their career to catalogue the entire library, reaching its darkest corners to mark down the tomes found down there, which is how we have this directory today.

"There's books on lackees in the Demonology Archive on the 36th chamber, the 'Unusually Practical Anti-Magic' section on the 93rd chamber, and the 'Memorial of the Final Demon Lord' wing in the 140th chamber."

"So only in 3 sections?"

"Three sections that have been found. There could be others that the archivists haven't discovered."

"Oh, that's good." Braddy said. "It would be weird for a library this old to have only a few."

I looked up the chambers in the library map and they were all pretty deep down. We might need to repel in a number of areas. The main concern was getting lost. The place was so labyrinthine, I could see us getting turned around somewhere. "I wonder if there is a map we can purchase."

Just as I said that, suddenly, the screen in front of me started to flicker and glitch out. I stepped back, as if it were going to explode on me at any moment. Instead, a small ball of light appeared in front of me, taking the glitching and artifacting with it. Suddenly, a pair of eyes appeared over the ball of light, and then a mouth.

"Hello there!"

"Well hello little missy." I said with much bravado. Why didn't I switch to this persona before riding the void ship? It's nice being this fearless. "I'm Second, and this is my travel companion, Braddy. Now who might you be?"

"I'm Whimsy, the Library Meme."

A meme! I thought. Meme's are ideas that spread on the internet like genes. Well after thousands of years of the internet's history, some of them have evolved into having sentience. I've never met one as most of them have died off long before I was born. The corporations adopted a lot of them when they were trying to push Artificial Intelligence as the big new thing, but then killed them after the AI Bubble popped. Apparently, to capitalism, there's no crime more deserving of the death penalty than being unmarketable.

"I'm surprised to see a meme in the library."

"There's no greater collection of ideas than a library!" She said. "I feel right at home here!"

"That makes sense!" Don't you love it when things function in a logical manner? I miss that. "What can we do for you, little lady?"

"Bring me along!" She cheerfully volunteered. "I can keep you from being lost, and give you information!"

"And what are you getting out of this, little miss? Are you looking for payment?"

She shook her face. "Nah, money is just numbers humans put value to. I want to learn about you!"

"About me?"

"Yes! A lackee hasn't entered this library in 2,000 years! I'm not missing this chance to see one up close!"

So in a sense, she's after knowledge too. "As long as you don't cause problems, I don't mind bringing you along. Though, would there even be a way to stop you from coming if we had objected?"

"Nope!"

Looks like we had a new travel companion. I had very little complaint about this considering she'll be quite helpful. Though why do I get the feeling this thing will backstab me the first chance she gets?

We made our way through the top layer of the library and headed to the final security gates to the more dangerous areas. The security lady was surprised to see me, and then she noticed my new companion. "Ah! You've got Whimsy following you! You're quite lucky!"

Am I really? After checking our passes and our gear, she put bracelets on our wrists.

"These magical cuffs will teleport you back to the surface if you are injured or dead. Do not remove the cuffs or you will be banned from the library. Do not destroy any of the tomes or you will be banned from the library. Please report anyone violating any of these rules or you will be banned from the library. Do not remove any tomes from the grounds."

"Or we will be banned?"

"What? No! You'll be charged a fine!"

"The ban only lasts a year or so, hehehe!" Giggled the meme.

"Whimsy! Don't tell anyone about that!"

Well, I don't intend to break any rules while I'm here. Heck, considering I don't intend to come back here, it doesn't matter if I get banned anyways! Though I needed to be sure I at least accomplished my goal.

"When you want to return, your bracelet has a subtle button you can press that'll send you back to the surface. Anyways, be careful out there, and I hope your search is ever fruitful!"

Belovi was with me today. It was my turn to look after her. She spent the day mostly watching what I did.

"We need to add more Vitamin C into our collective diets, as we've gotten an outbreak of scurvy going around." Said the doctor lackee.

Lackees are notoriously fickle creatures. We're very much stuck in the routines we were born into. So it's not uncommon for us to fall into bad habits, like eating the same thing everyday.

"Mama says you can get vitamin C from oranges, and lemons." The little one explained.

The doctor beamed. "That is correct!" She reached out and ruffled her hair a little. She giggled happily at the physical contact.

Considering Lackees don't have children naturally, I feared my kind lacked any maternal instincts. This is largely why I wanted her to be raised outside the swarm. However, I've been overjoyed with how well the others have taken to her.

And I've also taken to her as well. Something about her boundless curiosity, the fact she's so invested in what I do just makes this job feel all the more validating. It makes me wonder if this is why the others like her so much.

"Consult with Chef Lackee about incorporating the correct nutrients in our meals."

"Yes sir!"

And almost on cue, we heard the dinner call right after.

We all congregated in the mess hall. Belovi sat in a little chair next to me. The chefs all came out with piping hot plate after piping hot plate.

"I've been experimenting with a new recipe, so tell me what you think!" Called out the head chef.

The dishes finally reached me and... it's spaghetti and meatballs. 

Belovi squealed with delight. "My favorite!"

The head chef looked baffled. "Your favorite? But I just came up with it."

The child poked a meatball with a fork and chowed down. She gleefully chewed. "The right feeling..." She muttered in between chews.

I ate myself and... this tastes exactly like Coozin's recipe, the one I ate at the mansion not too long ago. Like, EXACTLY! He even used the same seasoning as her! I was confused for a moment, but then I glanced over at Belovi, gleefully eating her food.

And it was then, I finally noticed the plainly obvious, at least it should have been obvious for me. As it turned out, it was pretty clear what Belovi's role was. In fact, I've been waiting for her specifically...

Days later, I had boarded a void ship. I watched out the window next to my seat in awe as the star filled universe of my home vanished, and was replaced with the endless empty canvas of the void. I could see universes dotting the distance. Could there be hundreds of worlds like mine in every single one of those? It boggled the mind.

"Have you ever left your home dimension before?"

Sitting in the seat next to me was none other than Lord Panchi's pop star brother, Braddy. He was almost as cool as the lord himself! "No, I haven't. I haven’t even left my world before…"

"Leahdah, or that was my mom, she made us travel a lot so I'm kind of used to universe jumping. I don't even remember my first jump. I can't imagine what you're going through." He placed a hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"It's just overwhelming." I glanced back at the window. "This is the furthest I've ever been away from the place I was born. Everything is... a lot bigger than I expected it to."

I don't think lackees were built for travel. We weren't really built for new experiences, so this was well beyond my comfort zone. However, the internet alone couldn't provide me with the information I needed. While I am very certain of Belovi’s role now, I didn’t want to present that information to the Sanctuary leadership without some kind of evidence. Heck, I couldn’t even answer the basic questions! I just had speculation on my side.

But now I have a lead to investigate. Maybe now I have a better idea on what we are dealing with, I can get some real answers. However, despite the fact that I’m determined, that still didn’t calm my nerves in the slightest.

The sense of unease wasn't helped by a sudden bang that rang throughout the ship. I shot up looking around urgently. "What was THAT?!?"

"Oh, that's weird." Braddy said, glancing towards the window.

I looked where he was looking and I saw a giant eye peering at me from outside. I practically jumped from my seat. "Oh crap!"

"Huh, usually void wyrms don't attack ships. I guess it's our lucky day!" I didn't really feel that lucky! "You hang tight, I'll go deal with this real quick!"

Just as everyone started to panic, Braddy opened a nearby escape hatch and started hucking energy blasts at the thing from the safety of the cabin. I just huddled into a ball on the floor until it was over.

Surprisingly, the creature veered off soon after Braddy started attacking it. My nerves were frayed as fuck, but the rest of the trip was uneventful. I never wanted to fly in a void ship ever again, and yet I still had to fly on one to get back! I'm in hell...

As soon as we landed on the starport, I was practically eager to get the hell off that thing. I practically kissed the polished floors as I stepped off the terminal.

"So this is the Crossroads, huh?" Braddy said with a stupid grin as he scanned the cityscape outside a nearby panoramic window. "It's huge!"

It took me a second to catch my breath before I could see what he's seeing. I always thought Sanctuary was big, but THIS! This was on a whole new level! I couldn't even see an end to it! It felt like it extended out forever! Not to mention, huge towers, reaching high into the heavens dotted the horizon. There have been talks of building towers in Sanctuary. Is this what my homeland will look like one day?

"Despite all my travels, I have never been to the Crossroads." Braddy explained. "Thanks for bringing me along, Second!"

"It should be noted that it was Lord Panchi's idea for you to come, as my bodyguard."

"Still if you hadn't suddenly needed to travel here, I wouldn't have this opportunity, so I'm still thankful!"

I smiled. I was glad I wasn't doing this trip alone. I would be way more scared if I didn't have the company. However, when I tried to return the thanks, I realized he was looking past me. I turned around to see a giant pile of slime on the ground, two balls and a bunch of clothes floating inside it. We shared a confused look.

Suddenly, the slime started to reach upwards towards the ceiling. The physics breaking goop caused me to leap backwards several feet.

The slime kept rising and rising, flowing into the clothes and giving it shape. It formed into the shape of a man, the two balls lodging into place in its head to form eyes.

"I apologize for the scare, your flight was delayed so I was sleeping." They said with no mouth.

"You're an Ishiki." Braddy commented. 

"Ishiki..." I've read about them. They are creatures made of slime, a distant relative of monster kind. Very different from slime monsters though, who evolved to take humanoid shapes, Ishiki have to actively take that shape when they wake up. I heard the young have to sleep in molds.

"Am I not mistaken that you're the Sanctuary party? I've been told the two travelling were a minutian and lackee, so I'd be surprised if you're not."

"That's us." Braddy spoke for me. I was thankful as I was still too shaken by literally everything to speak.

"I'm your limo driver. I'm supposed to take you to the library."

His eyes lit up with realization. "Oh! Right! We were told there would be a ride waiting for us!"

They bowed. "My kind don't have names, but you can call me AB, or Abbey."

"I'm Braddy, and this here is my associate." She bumped my shoulder to talk.

"S-Second-in-Command Lackee, but everyone just calls me Second."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Second, Braddy. Please, follow me."

They would lead us through the ridiculous long star port. We passed terminal after terminal, it felt almost endless!

"I apologize if my appearance disturbed you," they said to me, "I know not many are used to my kind."

Great, now he thought I was being slime racist. "No, honestly you're not too different from the slime monsters back home. I was just kind of still shaken up from the void wyrm attack on the way over here."

"Ah, that explains the delay." Said Abbey. "Were one of you narrating?"

"Wh-what?" Narrating? Like, that thing Lord Panchi says Anne and Raina does? Why would either of us be doing that?

"Void wyrms are creatures born of void, so they are sensitive to strong divine power. The voice of the goddess is as powerful as it gets, so it draws them in like moths to a flame."

I was just a lackee. I wasn't important enough to have my story told. I thought, Maybe Braddy was narrating? Or someone else on that ship?

They didn't exist, and in a moment, then they did.

Lackees aren't born, they just appear. This is common knowledge, even though a lackee colony hasn't popped up in 10,000 years (at least from your perspective.) However, what many don't know is that they actually pop into existence long before they take physical form.

No, for a while they exist without bodies. Many may consider this like a soul without a body, but they aren't souls in the conventional sense. No, they are more like concepts, like how an idea can just pop into your head. And when one appears, they see me. I am the Lackee Administer. My office exists in the nothing, the same nothing O'Bea and that monster resides in. But unlike them, I'm here by choice. I'm also not trapped here.

You see, I am a demon lord, the first and only lackee to become one, and paradoxically, I'm kind of the reason lackees exist to begin with. It doesn't make much sense, but little does when you live outside time and space. It's my job to guide my kind on their way.

Today was like any other. The concept of a lackee appeared before me, like the many others I saw that day. (Whatever a 'day' even is out here.) Every single one appears differently. This one was like a bubble, but with horns sticking out on the top and eyes blinking at me.

"Greetings, I am the Administrator. I don't know if you realize it, but we belong to the same species. I'm here to help you. Do you understand?"

It floated up and down. Unlike the many times it did during the duration of my introduction, this one felt intentional, so I assumed that was a 'yes.'

"Okay, I'm going to provide you with some choices to pick from. Don't feel bad if it takes you a while to pick, this time is your time."

I pressed a button and the furnished wood office of default suddenly transformed into a wispy arena. Holographic projections appear between the two of us, this time a menu with multiple selections.

"Please select a gender." I said. "Our kind lacks genitalia, so non-binary is the natural cisgendered choice, but any is okay. Obviously this can be changed later, but your starting gender affect your options for demon lor-"

While I was explaining, the being floated into the option of 'female.'

"Ah! We're matching in that regard! This is just for the conversation to go smoothly, but is it she/her?"

Another menu pops up with a number of pronoun options. They float into the 'she/her' option.

"Alright! Thank you for your prompt answers, miss!"

The bubble floated intentionally again. I smiled back before continuing. "Okay, then it's time to choose what job you'll be born with. Of course, this can be changed later!"

A large wall of options appeared. Almost as if she was driven by fate, she made a beeline to a specific option. It was one I wasn't expecting.

"Oh, I have to warn you about that option. Unlike the other jobs, you can't swap out of this one. You're pretty much set for life. Also, you'll have to start out as a child in order to be effective at that role."

But it didn't matter to her, she floated into the same option a second time.

"Are you sure?"

She floated assuredly.

"Well, if you're that insistent, then I won't stop you. Honestly, your role is a very important one, important to the entire lackee species as a whole, so I'm grateful when more of my kind can take the plunge." I smiled nostalgically. "Honestly, this is another thing we have in common. I too took that role. I am still in that role, even if I'm serving as your Administrator right now."

While it limits your options, it also grants you a freedom that no other lackee can understand. It warms my heart to see another going down that path.

Despite my joy, I still had a job to do. "Next up, it's time to pick your demon lord."

Based on the specifications she picked, that narrows down demon lords that are either female or gender fluid. There's some exceptions, like a hardcore male misogynist demon lord might have a colony of female lackees to oppose him, but for the most part, lackees reflect the gender of the lord, at least when they first manifest. I pull up a list of demon lords from all over history that meet those qualifications. Once again, as if driven by destiny, she hovered to her choice. 

"The Void Father?" I said with shock. A lot lackees choose him, so it's not the choice itself that was shocking. But considering the role she picked and the person she's connecting herself... I smiled warmly as my mind made the connection and glanced nostalgically upon the concept before me. "Of course, I should have known."

I helped her through the rest of her options, hair color, skin color, aesthetic stuff. I tried not to influence her choices now that I knew who she was. This was her path now.

When we finally got through it all, I gave the final explanation. "Now, considering your demon lord hasn't manifested yet, you'll have no recollection of this meeting until he has. It'll be easier that way, so you won't accidentally alter his destiny and accidentally negate your existence. Now, do you have any questions before I release you to the multiverse?"

The bubble simply floated intently. I'll take that as a 'no.'

"Then, good luck out there, Belovi!" And with a sparkle of light and a gust of magical wind, I sent her on her way. She would materialize on the streets of Sanctuary in the middle of the night. I'm sorry to say, but being born in darkness instilled a fear, a fear of the unknown that would follow her for the rest of her life. Funnily enough, this'll be a huge motivating factor for her. But that's a story for later.

For now, feeling a bit giddy after that encounter, I decided to take a break. I stood from my seat and stretched with a satisfied grunt. Soon after, I made my way to the door and exited out into the nothing.

Like I said, the others were trapped out here, but not me. Demon lords are nothing but will and determination, and even the unimaginable has to bow down to that. So I flew, flew for longer than anyone could imagine until a familiar pair appeared in my line of sight: a bear and a horrific monster.

"Hey O'Bea! Hey Pinkie!"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Growled the eldritch monstrosity.

"Hey Admin! Congrats on getting to your introduction!"

"Thank you. It's nice to be seen, though it's a smaller audience than I expected." Not a lot of people reading this huh?

The ursine shrugged. "Eh, we're just a tad off the wall for Wattpad I guess."

"So, what's going on in the story?"

"Pinkie just talked to her vessel for the first time in Multiverse B! She's got a puffed up chest over it!"

"SHUT UP!"

I can finally see what they were seeing. There was a broken pig person wallowing in a tower, looking up into the cosmos for guidance. "She's only talking to her? Why don't they join now? She is certainly primed for it."

"Oh, she's afraid of a few demons."

"Seriously?!?"

"I WILL EAT YOU!" Shouted the creature while flailing around.

"I would like to see you try!" Flying just out of reach of her as Pinkie tried to swipe at me with her claws. We both laugh at her futility.

"Oh hey! We're switching to another chapter!"

Suddenly, we see a new scene with Second and little Belovi as they both sit down for dinner with the rest of the lackees. When I saw they were bringing out spaghetti and meatballs, my eyes lit up. "Oh! I remember this! This is when Second realizes-"

Surrounded by the endless nothing, my mind slowly decayed from the monotony of it all, but what made it all the worse was that repugnant bear floating just out of my reach. I needed to escape, but failing to do so physically, I turned my mind to my vessel.

Annabelle, or Circe I should say, was apprehended by Sanctuary Security. The news spread like a wildfire, and considering she was such a public figure, it shook many to their cores. People in town started referring to her as "Annabelle the Cannibelle." Horror stories, mostly made up, started to flourish on the internet. Many others were talking tough about how they 'saw it coming.'

Funerals were set for the dead. Jacob Tofu has been recognized for his sacrifice and was being given a hero's burial. His sister, Canis Tofu has been beside herself through this whole process. She has left her shop in the management of others as she takes time off to grieve. Ironic considering how her business was now booming at the vegetarian restaurant as people suddenly lost their appetites for meat.

Meanwhile, the pig was being held deep in the dungeons of the palace. She was mere hours until she was transported to the prison in town. Nearby, the tasty morsels that make up Sanctuary leadership were talking about her.

"So she's an orc, not a pig person?" Said Raina in shock.

"That is correct," explained Lord Panchi. "it appears she had some... procedures done to have her appear more piggish than orcish."

"Huh, throw that on the list of surprises I guess." Anne snarked. "So is that a wrap then? I don't see much reason to continue to keep her under the palace."

"There's still some puzzle pieces missing." The minutian added. "Why can she sometimes hear narration? Based on her background she has no divinity in her at all."

"...speaking of narration, who the heck is narrating right now? I don't recognize that voice."

Panchi stamped their foot in frustration. "Oh come on! Point something out like that sooner! I can't hear it!"

"Why does that voice give me an antsy feeling all the sudden?"

"How would I know?!"

"I mean, you're the detective!"

While the pair argued, the Monster Princess was lost in thoughts, her gaze fixated on the pig. Before she knew it, she found herself walking towards the criminal.

That was until Belle cut through her trance with a question. "You want to destroy me, don't you?" 

Raina stopped in her tracks. "W-what?"

"That's the look of someone who wants to erase a problem. I've made it many times before. I've known you as the more pragmatic type, just like me."

"I'm literally nothing like you."

"You know," the pig continued without even registering the Princess' rebuttal, "I used to respect you. Out of all the leadership, you were the only one that had yet to fail me, but I learned about the filth in your blood."

The phrasing was starting to irk Raina. It brought her back to the racism and xenophobia of her childhood. People use words to cut like a knife, slashing until you are down to size, beneath them. At the time it was her reality, but now in retrospect, it only made her blood boil hearing it.

Seeing the look on her face, Belle only grinned. "That pissed you off, didn't it? You really are daddy's little girl."

And suddenly, the Princess was knocked back into reality. "Wait, you hate me because of Marduk?"

"That's right. You're related to the worst dragon in veil. The fact my tongue ever spoke kind words of you makes me want to vomit, yuck!"

Raina took a big breath. Being hated for her skin color or her perceived species was one thing, but she only had mixed feelings about her father. There was no skin off her nose. She turned to walk away, but it's next what Belle said that would be the biggest blow of the exchange.

"That monster ate my father. He was but a humble meat salesman in Sable Grove, and he ate him!"

An orc, in my home town, that sold meat… Raina stewed on that for a while, scrambling to connect the horrific dots. Meanwhile, the pig continued.

"You know how rough it has been to live the last 7 years without him? It's a crying shame!"

"7 years..." That was how long ago since the Princess left Sable Grove, on that fateful day when she was led into a dark alley by an orc, one that was selling meat… As soon as she made the connection, she turned around and glared at the orc lady.

She recoiled. "How DARE you look at me that way! Is this how you treat criminals in this town?"

"Your father took my arm..."

"What?"

Raina strutted far into Belle's personal space, rage boiling up through her body. "Your father cut off my arm!" She jammed the half missing appendage in the orc's face. "He did that!"

The pig looked at the arm, then at Raina, then at the arm, and her once again. Then without changing her expression, without a hint of remorse in her voice, she said, "You deserved it."

And with that, the Princess snapped. She threw a punch straight into Belle's face. Then she extended her hair and punched her with that, too. Punch, punch, there goes a tooth. Punch, punch, she's now bleeding. It took this long for Panchi and Anne to pull her away, but by then, Belle was a swollen bloody mess.

Hours later and after treatment, Belle would be in Sanctuary Penitentiary, given top security right out the gate. She was locked in a tower far off the ground, with only a window and the occasional state sanctioned therapist to keep her company, not that she talked much anymore. Days, maybe even weeks would go by, and while her wounds would heal, her heart was forever crushed. She prided herself in the fact she managed to evade authorities, but now that was gone, and all that was left was a defeated husk. She was a corpse, waiting desperately for the day she died.

Who knows how long it's been now, but in her constant depression, she would have a moment of clarity and glanced up into the stars above from her window. Her eyes couldn't see it, but her mind could reach all the way out into the nothing, where I'm waiting for her.

Do not worry, my vessel. It is too dangerous for us to be together right now, not with the demon war on the horizon, but soon, you will not be alone. The two of us will join and we will hand out the revenge we so rightfully deserved. We will bathe in their blood and feast on their bodies. It’ll be our great reward!

My precious origin story, just hold out. Our time is to come!

-----

My head was held high after my great success in obtaining more meat. I did my job more diligently than usual, knowing that I now can live without worry of being caught.

And it's exactly when my guard was down that SHE entered my store. Lord Panchi, the thorn in my side for so goddamn long. Is she here to finally admit defeat?

"Hello there, Annabelle. Coozin asked me to get some beef for tonight's dinner."

And it turned out to be something mundane. I sighed. "How much?"

"Four pounds. A lot of mouths to feed, especially with a grown child around."

Ugh, I didn't want to hear about her lackee child, and just as I was thinking that, Coozin entered the store pulling that very kid behind her.

Lord Panchi was surprised to see the pair. "What brought you two here?"

"Oh, I forgot to ask you to get some ground chuck. We'll need that for the burgers."

The lord pressed her hand against her forehead. "Ohhh right, you need multiple meats for that! I completely forgot!"

This was so fucking inane it was painful to watch. It didn't help that the lackee was right there in front of me. That kid creeps me the hell out. The fact her upper torso has the same skin color as Panchi makes me think she had an affair with lackee and this was the result. Hell, her leg fur was even the same color as her 'Papa's' hair! It's FREAKY!

Suddenly, Coozin gave me a dirty look. I shot her glare back. "What?"

The bunny sighed and ordered her meat. "1 pound ground chuck, 4 pounds steak, please."

As I went to grab the meat she ordered, the lord made herself comfortable at the counter. "It's a shame all your dates perished the other day. My condolences."

"Yeah, it sucks." I barely knew them, so their deaths didn't actually matter to me.

"It's certainly weird though."

I nodded along as I packaged the meat.

"It's just, all three of them walked right into a wolf's maw, but you only encountered the creature on the third day."

"Well, clearly the wolf ran off with the other two corpses considering they haven't been found yet."

"Oh yeah, that sounds about right." She nodded. 

I simply rolled my eyes as I finished packing the meat and dropped it in front of the rabbit. However, she only glanced up to me and said, "Also, I require 5 pounds of chicken. Would you get that please?"

I groaned, making it loud enough for both of them to hear. She was clearly fucking with me now. They both were. With the chef here, there’s little reason for the cop to stick around.

"You know, we couldn't find any trace of you heading towards the meet-up place for the dates. No footprints. Are you using some sort of concealing magic?"

It was almost a force of habit to cover my tracks. Not after almost getting caught in the monster kingdom. "I'm a beautiful young woman walking around at night, precautions are necessary." I gave her a look. "Why are you so interested in my footprints? You know the wolf is a killer, why are you looking into me?"

"Oh, don't worry ma'am, we are just covering our bases. Got to be thorough, you know how it is."

The fucker still thinks I did it. Well, she has nothing on me. This was only cause for suspicion, it's not enough to justify fully investigating me. Hell, this isn't even enough for a warrant. I'm in the clear! She lost, I won!

I finished packing the chicken and plopped it in front of Coozin. "Here is your chicken."

The robot bunny looked at the price, paid with her phone, and grabbed her meat. "Hey, Panchi, care to help me carry these?"

"Oh, I guess that's my cue to head out. Sorry for using up your time, ma'am!" She took half of the meat and the small ‘family’ left my shop.It was only later that it hit me. They have servants, why did they come to buy from here directly?

I was shaken enough from my encounter with the cop that I used it as an excuse to go to the tavern after closing. A slime man named Stinger Slim is running the bar. "Hello ma'am what can I get you?"

"Whisky on the rocks." I said and my drink was quickly made for me.

Just as I was getting settled in my seat, I heard a jingle at the door. I turned to spot the bane of my evening, Lord Panchi had stepped through the entrance. She immediately laid her eyes on me. "My what a coincidence seeing you here!"

"Are you stalking me?"

"Nah, this is purely a coincidence." As she plopped herself in the stool right next to me. "Bartender! Club soda please!"

"Lord Panchi?" The slime man was shocked for a moment when he saw the literal lord at his bar. Eventually he regained his senses. "Of course! Right away!"

She turned to me. "Heh, I'm always on call."

"Of course you are."

"So gotta stay off the alcohol. Plus, what kind of role model would I be for my kid if I came home with booze on my breath."

Oh what a responsible parent. Barf. If I ever wound up with a child, I'd eat 'em.

The lord got her drink and started taking small sips. "By the way, I've been thinking about footprints since our last conversation."

"Oh yeah?" I said halfheartedly.

"When we found the torn apart third date, there were no paw prints heading there. It's as if the wolf appeared out of nowhere."

And suddenly I felt a lump in my throat. This was the first time she said anything more than circumstantial. "Oh uh," I tried to think up an excuse, but I was coming up empty, "th-that is pretty weird now that you mention it."

"Yeah, in fact, considering that a wolf has attacked three people on three separate days, we've found no wolf tracks at all in the area."

I remained silent. I didn't know what to say to that. God, why didn't I make fake paw prints? No, it wouldn't have come off as natural!

"Heh, it's a lot like how you can hide your foot prints."

"Uh, yeah, I guess it's kinda like that." Shit shit shit!

Suddenly, there was a chirp. Lord Panchi pulled out her phone. "Oh, looks like I'm needed elsewhere. Like I said, always on call."

"Yeah, it appears so."

She paid for her drink and jumped out of her chair and made her way out of the exit. But before I could breathe a sigh of relief, she suddenly whipped around. "Oh just one more thing. I was suspicious about that whole 'lack of footprints thing' so I had Raina check out the area. Apparently teleportation magic was used. That's pretty wild."

And now I was sweating. "Heh, heh, that's pretty wild yeah!"

"Well, good night ma'am!" And she left out those doors.

As soon as she disappeared into the darkness of the night, I bolted out of the bar, not even bothering to pay.

Lord Panchi was close, TOO CLOSE! I'm so used to not leaving footprints I hadn't even considered how weird it looked for a savage wolf to not leave any. Now she was closer than ever to busting me! I had no choice, I had to go home and destroy the meat! It'll be a pain to live without it, but not being caught is more important right now.

I rushed all the way home, I unlocked the door to the basement and made my way down. I made a beeline for the hidden safe, inputted the passkey and...

"It's gone!" The meat had completely vanished!

"Are you missing something?"

I whipped around and Lord Panchi was STANDING RIGHT BEHIND ME!

"What are you- HOW ARE YOU...?"

But instead she looked all around her. "You all can come out!"

And suddenly a number of Sanctuary Security appeared out of nowhere, apparently using the same hiding spell I used on the safe. Among them was Princess Raina Adelaide, who strutted her way over to the minutian. "It's confirmed, the wolf was teleported from here."

"And the claw marks all over the basement are also pretty incriminating. Don't you think, miss Annabelle?" She furrowed her brow. "Or should I say, Circe, the cannibal serial killer? Authorities in Monster Kingdom will be impressed by your capture, no doubt!" (Chapter 54.5 Halloween bonus)

I couldn't stand for this! This couldn't be the end! "Sanctuary has RULES! Where's your search warrant!"

"Right here!" She held up her phone to present the warrant for me to see.

"...T-TYRANNY! There's no way you had enough evidence to get that! You must have pulled some strings!"

Lord Panchi chuckled and shook her head. "You know, I've been on to you for a long time. I announced specifically that I suspected foul play in a number of disappearances last year in order to flush you out. (Chapter 60) And when you suddenly cleaned up your act soon after, you became a person of interest in this case." (Chapter 62)

"I know all this already! It was so obvious you were tailing me!"

"Oh, I knew you were on to us, that's why I had your little club infiltrated."

"I know about that, too! Second was obviously a plant!" I yelled.

"Oh no, Second was the decoy spy."

"De-decoy spy?!?"

Lord Panchi grinned. "I knew you'd be looking for cop sympathizers, so Second was added in to throw you off our trail. No, the real spy was Jacob the wolf."

I was stunned. "Jacob... JACOB WAS A SPY THIS WHOLE TIME?!?"

"It was because of him we knew about your victim in Annesville. (Chapter 80.5 Valentines Bonus) If only security down there hadn't been in complete disarray because of the dragons, we would have nailed you all the way back then, and by the time I headed down there, the trail had gone cold." (Chapter 117)

I was stunned. Jacob... I should have seen it coming! The way his views align so perfectly with mine! He was trying to get close to me!

"When we heard about your upcoming dates, we knew you were going to strike again. However, the pig men you asked out wouldn't say where you were going to meet. When you requested Jacob come to your restaurant, I ordered him to find out where the meet up location would be, but he never returned." Lord Panchi held something in her hand. It was a glass, the same one Jacob drank his milkshake out of. "He must have known there was RAGE in his drink, but he drank it anyway. I don't know why he did that, but I hope his sister will forgive me someday."

She let out a heavy sigh, but then she turned towards me with a look of conviction. "But because of his sacrifice, we had everything we needed to take you down. The lack of footprint, the subtle confessions in your narration when Coozin was in the shop earlier, everything we built up was enough to get a warrant, and the rest was history."

I didn't know what to say anymore. It was over. I was defeated.

Once upon a time, there were three little pig men who were madly in love with a swine beauty, ME! Yes, I, Annabelle, owner of the meat shop in town, was their object of desire! Though this was a major boost to my ego, it was also kind of annoying because they would constantly come by my shop in an attempt to woo me, which would always lead to a fight and disrupt my business in the process.

"I am worthy of the fair lady!" Shouted a tall thin pig person named Francis with a FABULOUS french accent!

"No way, pencil dick! She needs someone that could protect her!" Grumbled a pig named Metal who's absolutely RIPPED body was barely contained in his wife beater.

"No, clearly she needs someone smart! A business owner could use an accountant husband like me!" Said a small pig in glasses and a bow tie named Digit.

Every day, they'd come to flirt with me and then start butting heads. It was getting so old.

"She needs class!"

"She needs abs!"

"She needs brains!"

"SHUT UP!" I yelled, and all three swiveled towards me in surprise. It was time to put an end to this, so I held up my hand with three fingers up. "Three dates, one pig each, one night after the other. The one that impresses the most gets to date me."

The three got excited at my suggestion.

"I know a fancy candlelit dinner I can take you on."

"Oh, going to flaunt your money to woo the lady?"

But I once again raised my hands to stop them before they continued. "To make it fair, all three dates will be a walk by the woods. Then you can show me your personality, which is truly important in a relationship." This was a lie, I like money almost as much as meat, but a walk by the woods benefited me the most right now.

"Excellent idea, madam!" Francis exclaimed.

"Then everything will be even. My peak performance body will do all the talking."

"My analytical brain will impress you most of all, Annabelle!"

With the plan solidified, I went with this order:

Digit would be the first night,

Francis would be the second night.

And Metal will be the final night.

The three left my store more than satisfied and excited for their shot at my heart!

It was the day of the first date, I had called Jacob to my store during my lunch break. I served him some mutton. "Fresh meat from the conjurator!" I lied.

"Thank you, Belle!" He said as he cut into the meat. "You're cooking is the best!"

"Hehe, naturally!"

He gleefully chowed down. "But I assume you didn't just call me over for a meal."

"Heh... Yeah, you understand me well."

He swallowed his latest bite. "Well, I'm all ears!" He maintained eye contact as he ate more of the sheep meat.

I smiled. He truly was a best friend. "Honestly, I have a date tonight and I'm just, a little bit nervous is all."

"Oh? That's a surprise coming from you. What brought this about?"

I explained the plan I made with the three guys.

"Huh, that's one way to resolve a harem I guess..."

"It's just... no matter what, I'll be in a relationship by the end of this. Part of me is just terrified to be emotionally available to someone again."

"You seem to open up to me just fine."

"Well, yeah! You're you. It's just..." I sighed heavily. "I used to live in the Monster Kingdom. I dated a lot of people, many pig people, all were perfect, total snacks! But what did meeting all those people lead to?" I slammed my cloven hand onto the counter, startling the wolfman. "Resentment! Nothing but trouble! I fear the same thing will happen in Sanctuary."

It was nothing but a nuisance. Those freaks would never leave me alone. It was the entire reason I had to move to this socialist hellscape.

Jacob contemplated for a long while before cautiously giving his advice. "There's a huge difference this time. You've learned and grown haven't you? That's going to affect how things play out, I know it!"

I play shocked at his candidness. "Y-you certain?”

"Yes, you are a kind hearted, warm individual with a determination up the wazoo! What guy wouldn't go for that!"

My heart stirred at his words, or at least that's how I presented it. I smiled at him. "It's a shame you're a wolf person. We would have made for a great couple."

"Yeah..." And he fell silent.

I may have depressed him, but I knew just what would cheer him up. I mixed together his favorite: a chocolate milkshake. "Here. This is thanks for everything." I placed it in front of him, grinning at him from ear to ear.

He beamed. "Thank you."

The days came and went. Next thing I knew, it was already the day of the third date. I was tending to the shop as usual that morning when Metal entered.

"Are you ready for our date tonight, babe?" He grinned.

"You know it! I'm looking forward to it!"

"You'll see soon, I'll blow those first two dates out of the water!"

My smile suddenly strained. "Actually, that won't be difficult as the first two were no shows."

"Really? Heh, I guess they knew they hadn't had a chance against a HUNK like me!"

"That's for sure!"

He would flex for the rest of the morning.

That night, I closed up the shop, spent an hour cleaning, wiping down the countertops and the blades. When my work was done, I got dolled up, putting on a flowy dress that barely reached my thighs and put on my make-up. I also stuck a knife in my stocking, you never knew what you might encounter in the woods, even I’m not fully certain. Just as the sun was going down, I made my way to the edge of the forest.

Just as I got there, I was hit with a sound in the distance of rustling leaves and soft whimpers. A familiar smell was in the air, the smell of blood. Fearing maybe Metal was hurt, I rushed into the woods in the direction of the sound, my dress getting caught on branches as I parted my way through.

As I got closer, I heard growls, the scratching of claws, and the whimpers were growing more and more silent. As I came closer, it came into view. Metal was in pieces on the forest floor, torn apart by a ferocious wolf. But it wasn't just any wolf. This one I knew intimately.

Before I could think, I had already shouted his name. "Jacob?!"

His ear twitched. He stopped chewing on flesh and his head tilted up, turning to glance at me. His kind eyes were gone, replaced with that of a hungry beast that only saw its next meal.

Realizing the danger I was in, I turned on the spot and ran. I could hear him behind me breaking into a sprint. The sound of his big paws coming closer and closer. I knew I wasn't going to outrun him. Realizing that, I pivoted 180 degrees on the spot and pulled out the knife from my stocking.

I saw him approaching and I readied myself. He came faster than I expected as he suddenly ran into me, knocking me to the ground. Just as he climbed on top of me, his teeth outstretched for my jugular, I stabbed into his neck, spraying blood everywhere. The creature whimpered, and then slowly faded away. It fell limp on top of me. I pushed him off and then ran for town.

I would come back with Sanctuary Security. The blue shawls I brought over inspected the wolf man.

"He was on RAGE, that drug has been going around lately."

"We recently busted the ring distributing the stuff, but I guess it was too late to save him."

"He was Jacob," I said as I teared up looking at his body, "he was a good man. He was a good friend..."

"It's a shame. I'm glad you're alright, miss."

It was late into the night and I had cleaned myself up. I should get some sleep, but I had to have some victory pork to celebrate. I unlocked the door to the basement and made my way down. In the back, there was a safe disguised into a wall that only I could see. It was perception magic. I unlocked it to reveal a magic fridge that kept meat from ever spoiling.

It was sad to see Jacob go, but considering the end result, it was worth putting RAGE in his milkshake. It was worth the marks he left in my basement as I kept him there until tonight, where I'd teleport him out near where Metal was meant to meet me. It was all worth it for this.

I took out my prize, pork, straight from a pig person. I wonder who tastes better, Digit or Francis? I thought. I decided to try Francis first.

I fried up that pork chop and plated my freshly cooked meal on the dimly lit table in the middle of my basement. I cut off a slice and brought it up to my lips, taking a bite. The juices coated my mouth with flavor. Meat from a pig was nice, but meat from a pig person was excellent!

It's a shame I had to give up Metal's body, but it was worth the sacrifice to frame Jacob for the murders of all three pigs. Besides, he would have been too tough with all those muscles.

I took another flavor filled bite. This opportunity to stock up came at the right time. I had used the last of the mutton I got from the sheep hunk in Annesville to feed Jacob the other day. I had to fill him with good food to get him on my side. I couldn't afford him seeing through me right now.

"I can't believe Sanctuary arrested my roosters! They were doing work for our god! This is religious persecution!" We were having another one of our League of Evil meetings. Friar Little has been ranting for 10 minutes about the recent arrests of his people for distributing RAGE all over town. "Religious Persecution I say! And I won't stand for it!"

Finally, the cock took his seat in a huff. Everyone in the room deflated, as if they had survived a long ordeal. Second timidly decided to speak next. "So, we still haven't found our demon lord. It's been concerning. The sudden appearance of a lackee child has been really getting everyone thinking that he may be coming soon-"

To be honest, I wasn't sure why Second still went to these meetings. He was so painfully obvious working as a spy for Sanctuary. We always knew that was his entire reason for joining, and now that he let that weird lackee child be adopted by Panchi, it's hard to even detach Second from the perception that he's a Sanctuary pawn. Does he honestly think he's fooling ANYONE?!?

"Anyways, that's all that's been going on with the lackees as of late." Second went silent.

Karma spoke next. "I've suggested to Sanctuary multiple times to have gladiatorial death matches for our criminals, but it gets shot down EVERY TIME!"

The puppet golem was always kinda unhinged. She hasn’t proclaimed wanting to try out killing people again after my talk with her, but she was always quick to toe that line, looking for a way to suggest we commit casual murder without directly saying it.

"I think we should make a sacrifice at an altar! We might be able to claim it's a religious right! HeheheheheheahahahahahahaHAHAHAAHA-" And there she goes on another one of her manic laughs. She'll be like that for a while.

Next up, Jacob the wolf anthro spoke next, trying to speak loud enough so we could hear him over the laughing.  "Sanctuary has been cracking down on no paid overtime lately. My sister has been hit hard by that. She's just not making enough to make ends meet. It's not fair!"

Jacob's sister runs a vegetarian restaurant. No wonder they struggle to make money. Everyone knows meat is where it's at!

"I've been looking at money making techniques for her. If she can be self-sufficient, she won't have to be so reliant on the socialists on top."

"Here here!" His views aligned so much with my own, it brought me so much joy every time he spoke in the group. I wish I could listen to him talk forever, but I could see the clock from where I was sitting. "And it appears we are out of time. See you all next week!"

We all got up and made our way to the exit. As we left the building, however, we were suddenly surrounded by Sanctuary Security, all donning orange uniforms, with the exception of Lord Panchi who was making her way through the small crowd in her iconic red.

"What is the meaning of this?!? I've been keeping my nose clean!"

"Believe it or not, I'm not here for you." Then she strutted up to the puppet golem. "Karma, you're under arrest for distributing RAGE to the roosters."

The felt creature simply cackled. "Hehehe, you'd have to CATCH me first!" Then she ran in a random direction, which unfortunately for her was the direction of a wall. She clashed with it, knocking her the fuck out. Security quickly jumped on her and carried her off by her arms. As she slowly gained her senses, she started laughing manically. Her laughter slowly faded into the distance as the fuzz left with her. It's a shame to see her go, but I already got what I needed from her so it's not a huge loss.

Lord Panchi gave me a harsh look before following close behind them.

"Sanctuary Security must be depraved to slander my kin." Said Friar Little. "If Lord Panchi wants to find a corrupt element in her town, she must look within and find the rot growing at the top. Hmph!" He stuck his beak into the air and waddled off.

Second was watching Lord Panchi with glittering eyes, but then he noticed me staring and quickly glanced away. Yeah, so obviously a spy.

Jacob the wolf decided to walk me home. "Well, that's another one of our group gone." I said sorrowfully.  Sanctuary kept taking away the things I love, or at least somewhat tolerate. I don't even see Apathea much anymore now that she's gotten the writer techniques down.

"Well, this is why we founded our group." Jacob explained. "We came together because we're in a land where our ideals are not accepted. We're living on the edge, it's natural we'd be oppressed."

"Heh, you're right." Sanctuary is a hell hole that values things like 'making sure people can eat and have health care' over the rights of business owners like me. We got in our positions because we are a higher caliber from the common riffraff that Sanctuary wants to coddle. We shouldn't have to worry about who we step on to get to the bag.

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ugh, how long do I have to write this shit?)

I glanced over at Jacob. "Did you just say something?"

"Huh, no? I was just thinking to myself just now."

I scratched my chin. "Huh, I swear I just heard someone just now."

"It's dead silent right now."

We were walking down a dark street late at night. Of course there wouldn't be anyone around. An auditory hallucination? I try to write it off as my imagination.

"Hey, Annabelle." Jacob said. "I just want you to know that if you want my support with anything at all, I'm always here to help."

I smiled. Ever since I started the League of Evil, Jacob has been super supportive of me. He's been a valuable companion, more than anyone else in our little group. I've been glad to have him around. "Thank you."

"It's no problem! What are friends for?"

He truly has been a friend to me. Which is why I will miss him when his usefulness has run out. While friends are valuable, not going to prison is something I treasure more, and Jacob could be the very person who can bail me out for good. To get someone like Lord Panchi off my back once and for all, YES, I'd sacrifice a hundred friends for that! Hence why I anonymously reported Karma. She was too much of a liability to keep around.

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: Friend of the year, huh?)

"Okay I KNOW I heard someone just then!" I glanced around frantically, looking for whoever was shit talking me. "Come out and face me, bitch!"

"Annabelle, I haven't heard anyone."

"No, for some reason I'm only hearing her! She must be using a spell or something! And she keeps going on about an 'Author's Note.' What kind of nonsense is that?"

However, I realized that Jacob wasn't beside me anymore. I turn to see him a few steps back. He had frozen in place, a long look in his eyes. "A-Author's note...?" He muttered.

"Jacob?" His behavior was weirding me out.

"I-I need to go! I'm sorry!" And he suddenly booked it, going the complete opposite direction from where his house was. Very peculiar. Maybe he was put off by my weird hallucinations. I'll need to explain to him later that I was joking.

To be honest, I was used to these sorts of things. Sometimes, when I'm alone, I feel something watching me. It's something old, something far away, something very hungry. It doesn't say anything just, watches, waits, as if waiting for its cue. Such a silly idea. If someone was watching me that closely, I'd be in prison already.

"Fifth RAGE victim..." I said as I was shaking my head. I was looking down on my pad device, a news story open about the newest streak of violence. "Lord Panchi, please tell me you're on your way towards cleaning this up."

"I am, Lady Lexine. I've already arrested the roosters responsible, and I have an ambush planned for tomorrow to nab the main supplier."

The roosters have been getting more and more brazen lately. They've originally only been disruptive by means of protests. I can live with their picketing. But now, more and more, they've been caught trying to frame members of Sanctuary Security and bringing dangerous drugs into town. We even have rooster influencers spewing their harmful rhetoric.

Not going to lie, I've never trusted the fowls. There's a reason I made Anne talk to them when we first made peace with Lucy and the hens. I don't know what it is about them but they send a chill down my spine every time I see them, and the dangerous actions of the roosters have not shaken my prejudice. I deal with them because that is what Anne has chosen, but if I had it my way... 

No, it's not good for a politician to think like that. I've seen how that thought process could twist good people into beasts. I need to be careful.

"Make sure the roosters that you have caught don't get released while they await trial. They are too dangerous to let go."

"Way ahead of you. We've got them on conspiracy to murder charges, too."

I gave the minutian a surprised look. "Wait what?"

"They were planning an assassination."

"How am I only hearing about this now?" I should be informed of stuff like this immediately! "Who were they planning to strike? Raina?"

"They were planning to kill Woob."

I froze for a second. At first, I didn't recognize the name, and then I was puzzled that the roosters would care about anyone in town who wasn't leadership. Then my mind connected dots. Woob was the minutian nurse that worked in the clinic. Then it clicked. "Wait, you're not saying it's about THAT?"

Panchi nodded. "They think she's betraying the Matriarchs by indulging in 'debaucherous behavior.'"

"Since when did they care about the politics of species other than their own?!?"

"Since Friar Little started preaching rooster supremacy."

"He WHAT?!" That fowl's antics were getting out of wing! "Bring Woob into Sanctuary protection, immediately!"

"Way ahead of ya! She's been relocated to the mansion, she's being escorted to and from work, and the clinic now has guards."

I'm glad he's so on top of things. "Also, I want Lucy in here as soon as possible!"

"I'm sorry, Marquess Lexine." Lucy said penitently. She was kneeling before me on top of my desk.

"I'm not looking for apologies! I'm looking for solutions!" I growled. "They've escalated to active terrorism! There has to be something you could say to them to stop this!"

"I'm sorry, there isn't."

That’s not good enough! "Doesn't your religion have anything on this?"

"There are. The text states that humbleness is a core virtue required to get to The Other Side." She explained. "'The path to the afterlife is bathed in the shadows of giants. Heed to heart that we are small and you will be granted safe passage.' That is what it says"

Oh, this is starting to sound familiar. "And let me guess, they somehow spun that to be about bird supremacy."

"He has taught that it's a cautionary tale, that if we bow to giants, we will always bow to them. It's transparent that's not what the verse says, but it checks out with their world views."

Confirmation bias. I've seen it time and time again. Especially when religion becomes extreme. When things get that tangled up, it's near impossible to take it apart. I held my head. "What do we do now?"

She was silent for a long time after that. She clacked the bottom of her mouth with the point of her beak in contemplation as she glanced down on the desk. After a long time thinking, she made a suggestion that surprised me. "Poison."

"Wh-what?"

"You should poison all the roosters' food. They won't see it coming. Use the strongest neurotoxin you can find, no less would do the trick. Then you probably should banish the hens for good measure."

"H-hold up!" Even though I have my prejudices against her kind, I still thought this was a little much. "Wouldn't an assassination attempt just escalate things? And banish the hens? Aren't you on our side?"

"I don't say this lightly, Lady Lexine. The only way to ensure your people's safety is to kill us all." She was looking me dead in the eyes. Even with the beady eyes of a chicken, I could tell that she 100% meant it. I could feel a lump in my throat, goosebumps all over my body. I've faced monsters, dragons, and gods, but none of them had instilled a sense of dread in me like now.

I mulled over her words. I couldn't say I had a clean record myself, I've had to kill others to protect the things I cared about before. Hell, I even worked for Hekatos for a time, so I was certainly complicit in a few extinction level events. It's stuff like this why I consider my alternate timeline self, the one that lived as a hero and died at a semi-normal age, as the "good" version of me. I have been stained by blood too many times to possibly ever classify myself as good. Survival was more important to me than righteousness.

For the briefest of moments, I even considered how I could get the job done. I even knew ways to do it quietly so the others would never have to know. Just erase this problem, before the problem reaches…

Anne came to mind. That hopeful idiot, lover of diversity. The lady who welcomed demons into her kingdom, a move that almost brought down her alliance. As much as I wanted to protect her, I knew she would want me to protect her ideals more. I knew that even if Anne had the same fear as I did, she would still welcome chickens. She would still let them have their land and allow them to be independent. That's what she would want. If I ever betrayed her, I could never forgive myself.

"I won't do that, Lucy." I affirmed. "We will nail Friar Little, believe me, but it will be after we collect the evidence and throw him into prison. We’re going to do it right. Your people deserve that much."

However, in response to my words, she simply sighed. "I wish I could believe you. I want a better future for my people, but-" her face bore the weight of a thousand loads as she spoke, a metric ton bearing down on those small shoulders, "when all things are said and done, I know you will remember this day, and wish you had heeded my advice. I know you and even Anne will be singing a different tune by then. It's a fate carved into the stars." She shook her head. "No, we won't be shown mercy, and honestly, we don't deserve it."

The air was thick with tension. I collected myself and gave the response I should give. "Listen, I don't know the full context of what's going on here-"

"No you don't."

"But let me help you. Let US help you! I don't know what weighs on your heart, but whatever it is it doesn't mean your kind doesn't deserve to exist." I reached out and took her wing. "Please, Just work with us. We'll make it through this together."

Lucy however, couldn't even look me in the eye. It was easy to see that she wasn’t convinced. Despite that, she spoke. "I will convince more of the free roaming hens to join Sanctuary Security. It won't deescalate things, but it'll help you with reigning in the roosters. I've also been intentionally encouraging the hens towards going further and further away from the coop. More in town would make things safer overall. That's all I could do for now."

"Thank you, Lucy."

She shook her head. "Don't thank me. Not until Sanctuary is safe. Now, if it’s okay, I will take my leave."

"I understand. Tha- uh, I'm pleased you could come see me Coop Leader. Good bye."

"Farewell." And with that, she promptly left the room.

I was left alone to my thoughts, my heart feeling differently from when she first entered the room. In all my time existing, I have never seen a leader advocate for the murder and expulsion of her own people. Well, okay, I have seen that, but this time around, it felt like she was only suggesting it to protect us.

While there was still an unease in my heart, I finally decided how I felt about Coop Leader Lucy. She was someone who cared about the safety of the people of Sanctuary. That makes her an ally in my book. Together, we'll find a way to wrangle Friar Little and prevent whatever fate the hen fears. I believe we can! Even if she doesn’t.

-----

It was another day on Mutter.

I had basically become the palace's social media manager. People would actually come to me for advice and for help on getting things to go viral. All those years of being an influencer have paid off!

Because all the major Sanctuary leaders started to regularly use their personal Mutter accounts after I started running it, most of the kingdom had adopted in kind. This allowed me to be on the pulse of conversation in Sanctuary.

Some talk had been going around about Panchi adopting a lackee daughter. Many of them are supportive, while some were trying to spin it into somehow being a bad thing. They'd argue that "lackees are subservient by nature, so raising it when you're not a lackee is immoral." I couldn't help noticed that it's not lackees making these arguments. In fact most of them were from the roosters. Why do the roosters have it out for this town?

There's a lot of fawning over how cute Belovi is from the few photos that managed to make it online. Some even drew art. Some of the adult martial artist fanart of her is pretty badass, though it was weird to see this of a child I actually knew. Oh yeah, and the revelation that Panchi and Coozin would be raising the kid together had resparked that tired old "are they actually a romantic couple" debate, which was so fucking disrespectful.

An upcoming Hendrix concert had some people excited, especially among the hens. Some were already charting their 15 block pilgrimage to the concert hall. Some Sanctuary Security were even willing to escort them there knowing how big a journey that is for most hens. Of course, Friar Little has been protesting the concert for the last week or so.

However, the biggest hot topic was still the whole trial fiasco. After a month, the fervor had mostly died down, but discussions and debates were still raging. Most of the former berry blitzkrieg members were still reeling from the fact that their king was now somehow a dragon. The spellwriting community was still trying to figure out how a lot of Raina's spells function. Meanwhile, most were just geeking out about their favorite moments of the fight, bragging about how many times they've watched it and how they could name every spell Adelaide used by memory. There have been a number of recreations with video effects. Honestly, I had to respect the talent on display.

Feeling like I've done enough scrolling today, I moved on to looking at the personal accounts of the leadership. Their public image needs to be tailored, at least that's what I'm constantly telling them. I respect their whole "friendly neighborhood ruler" routine, but your online image is permanent, and I have to keep them from embarrassing themselves.

Panchi doesn't have a private account, however he does post bulletins on the official Sanctuary Security Mutter. He's been issuing warnings about the new drug in circulation called RAGE that turns people into feral beasts that attack indiscriminately. Recreational drugs are legal in Sanctuary, but ones that harm other people like that are very much illegal, at least the distribution of it.

Coozin just posts whatever she makes including meals she serves to the higher ups. Food is part of the prestige of being a Princess, so I think this is an excellent way to bring some clout. Also, despite the fact they've decided to keep their daughter out of the public eye, Belovi has snuck her way into the background of a number of those photos. Coozin's the major source of the leaks. Well, that and photos from a bunch of other accounts from the palace. That kid sure does get around.

O'Bea's online presence has been getting bigger and bigger as of late. She's basically made different personas between multiple accounts and had basically manufactured a soap opera between herself. Honestly, I don’t even comprehend what that bear is doing anymore.

Raina has been posting photos of her and Anne together. Even though it's another 8 months before the wedding on New Year's Day, we want to keep the excitement going and the ship fuel flowing. This is a marriage between royals after all! She's also been giving spellwriting tips.

Anne has been posting photos of herself and a number of townsfolk. While her down-to-earth approach to leadership is unconventional, I'm honestly envious of how much love she gets from her people. I guess it pays to be a good ruler.

Finally, I checked on the ancient three. They don't get as much attention as Anne, Raina, and Panchi but the trio have something the rest don't have: drama.

Seriously, Sotakeh, Foxman, and Lexine. Their interactions are just dripping with sexual tension that even a former staunch supporter of monogamy like me finds myself yelling "just have a threesome already!" The sad thing is, I don't think even they realize it yet, otherwise they'd tone it down in public. Usually I'd put a break on all this as it is a bad look, but as a bunch of ancient old fogeys, they socially get away with a lot more than the young do.

Ignoring the argument they got into this morning, it looks like Foxman is giving financing tips while Lexine was photographing her perfectly delinted suit. Meanwhile Sotakah was planting flowers in the garden.Huh, gardening. I thought. I had spent the entire morning on social media. Maybe it'd be good for me to touch grass? I decided after lunch, I'd go spend time with my grandmother. It's probably what I needed.

"Level with me here. Are they still shipping us?"

"Unfortunately, so."

I barely saw Sotakeh for lunch. She grabbed a microwaved vegetarian sausage on a slice of bread before running off to garden some more, so I decided to just head over there. Of course, Lord Panchi accompanied me for my safety.

Panchi let out a guttural groan. "Allos are so annoying!"

"Maybe if you were open about the whole queerplatonic thing?"

But he only gave me a side-eye. "I could literally post the definition of queerplatonic on Mutter and it won't even get through their skulls. They just can't imagine a committed relationship with the make-out sessions. It's disgusting."

"Is it really that difficult to comprehend? I picked it up pretty quickly."

Lord Panchi only sighed. "You're different Bonnie. You're more open to new ideas because you've been through the ringer, but most people can't see very far past their noses."

It's weird to hear anyone essentially call me open-minded considering my history. Though I've been finding talking to him easier and easier the more times he escorts me.

"By the way," the Lord changed the subject, "how are you doing on your thing?"

"I tried looking at buff guys, scrawny guys, wide guys, short guys, I even started looking at women and I just didn't feel anything. Honestly, I think my emotions are broken or something."

"You're not broken. Even if you don't feel anything anymore, that just means you're like me, and you don't think that means I'm broken, do you?"

I shook my head vigorously at the insinuation. "That's not what I meant. I mean I used to be into this stuff and then it just, kinda stopped."

"Well, maybe it wasn't really the guys you were into it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe you were into an idea, or something they could provide you." Panchi explained. "Not being able to feel that way doesn't mean you can't have other needs. I'm no therapist, but I think you should try to remember why you wanted a husband so badly."

He was very likely right. However, the idea of looking back was so scary to me. I don't want to go back there, to when I was Princess Bon Bon Sunshine. That's a part of myself I was hoping to leave behind in the ditch I left her in.

That said, I still needed to show my gratitude. "Thank you for the advice, sir. You've always been kind to me."

"Call me ma'am." Lord Panchi said.

"Excuse me?"

"You can call me ma'am, and you can use she/her pronouns for me."

"Are you sure?" Anne explained to me how Panchi's pronouns worked. Only his close friends use feminine pronouns.

"I'm sure of it. We're sisters of the grey scale after all." She said with a grin. She lifted up her fist. Catching her drift, I gave her a fist bump, or at least as much as I could give her considering.

We were making our way through the garden which had grown big enough to be a small forest around the mansion. Finally, Sotakeh came into view.

"You'll be safe with her, so you won't need me right now. I'll head back." Lord Panchi explained.

"Again, thank you, ma'am!"

She gave me a thumbs up and then left back the way she came. I was alone with the elderly woman. She was down on her knees, digging a hole with a spade. I wasn't sure if she had detected me yet.

Grandma Sotakeh sighed. "I know you're there, I can hear your narration from here."

I panicked. "I'm sorry to intrude!"

"Relax, I'm not going to bite your head off. However, that might."

Suddenly, I felt something grab onto my arm. I looked down to see that my appendage had been grabbed by a giant venus flytrap. I immediately started to hyperventilate as I tried to pull my arm free. Then the elderly woman casually pointed her finger behind her and then a harsh wind cut through the air like a blade. It separated the plant by the stem, killing it instantly. The same spell also cut my legs in half, sending me spiraling to the ground. I was immediately hit with searing pain.

Sotakeh, hearing the narration, suddenly whipped around to look at me. She saw my now detached limb now wildly wiggling around on the ground. She started to cackle manically as she pointed at the jiggling leg. "It's like a worm with the head cut off!"

"Please don't laugh and help! This really does hurt!"

"Yeah, but you can cancel the pain, can't you?" She walked up and picked up the quivering appendages. While holding back a chuckle, she placed the missing parts in their right places and they quickly reattached. Then she extended a hand. "Don't be a big rubbery baby."

I took her hand and she helped me up. "I don't see you with any missing limbs, so you're one to talk."

"Oh please, I've lost more limbs than I have limbs. But I always pick myself up and grow them back." She proudly pounded a fist to her chest.

"And that's considering you have pain killing spells."

Sotakeh grunted as she figuratively had no leg to stand on with that argument. Instead, she barked at me: "Aren't you here to touch some grass?"

"Wait, how did you know that?"

"It's in the title, moron!"

"Is it?" I couldn't see that high up.

"Oh great, we might need to get you glasses, too. Fuck. Let's just get to planting." She pulled me along to the hole she was digging.

Today was the day! Anne and I are going on our first date in a while! I mean, first date that doesn't involve kicking dragon butt. Yes, I consider the brawl a date.

Though it was a tad bittersweet, as we'd be exploring my old hometown. Despite it being on the Monster Homeworld, Marduk controls the territory I used to live in, so it should be safe for me to pop over for a visit.

That said, better to be safe than sorry, so I was going in disguise. Anne was slack jawed when saw me."What do you think?" I was disguised as a faun, with deer legs, horns sticking out of my forehead, and a pink tube top that Anne was definitely trying not to stare at. Look all you want, doll. <3

I was wearing a prosthetic arm today. I hate using this thing, but walking around with an exposed missing arm might give my identity away.

Anne, donning her modified gift fox costume could only nervously mutter. "You're very cute..." She was blushing profusely. Obviously the main goal of this disguise is to hide, but its secondary function was a complete success!

I offered my robot hand and she timidly delivered me a noodle which I firmly held. With my robot hand, I pulled from my inventory a rabbit hole device. I haven't used one of these in years and hope I land my shot. I opened a tunnel through time and space up through the facade hole, aiming for the location of my old home on the Monster Homeworld. Soon, a hole appeared above us and gravity shifted to pull us in. As we fell, the make of the cave transitioned from paved streets and humble houses, to brick roads and abundant forests. Next thing we knew, our descent slowed until we landed neatly on the other side, the rabbit hole closing above us.

...and I couldn't even see the town from here. We were surrounded by giant trees with a high canopy. I checked my phone to discover that we were 2.5 miles away from our destination. Honestly, closer than I would have expected. A brick road lay before us, pointing us in the correct direction.

"Should we fly the rest of the way?" Anne asked.

"I wouldn't mind walking. I mean, if you're fine with it…" I used to walk down this road whenever my mother and I traveled to the nearest town. It would be nostalgic for me.

"In that case," she said, answering my narration, "let's take the rest of the way slow." 

I smiled as we had a pleasant stroll through the woods.

Slowly, the trees thinned out, holes left where the roots had been pulled up. The canopy that once blanketed us from above now gave way to the harsh sun. The quaint little brick road eventually became a paved road with a sidewalk.

"Welcome to Sable Grove, the forest town of Jet County!" At least that WAS its nickname.

"It's not much of a 'forest town' anymore." Anne gawked as ash surveyed what was ahead of her.

What was a village nestled within the trees was now a large city that spread out far and wide, full of urban centers and factories. Those chimney shacks used to spew smog every single day, but they've gone cold over the years. The factories that dot the landscape are all abandoned, the people out and about aren't nearly enough for the level of development on display. "The local mana ore mine tapped out, and so did the capitalists. The only people still around are the ones that have nowhere else to go." And even some of them are leaving.

"Doesn't Marduk control these forests?" She said as she gawked wide eyed at the perfect example of degentrification. "Why did he let all this happen?"

"Marduk is not an environmentalist." I explained. "He's way too big to focus on small issues, so he let the rot spread into his lands without realizing."

I've heard rumors about the area of space Marduk controls. If those are true, they make Sable Grove look like paradise. Tales of lawlessness and overreaching capitalism that rival even the Monster Kingdom. Turns out, when you stand high up, the struggles of ants seem trivial.

"People with the power to change things, but don't... I can't believe Marduk..." Anne was clenching the end of her noodle arm as she gritted her teeth. While I agree with her, this might be a tad too political for a date. She sighed in response to my narration. "You're right. I'll sort my feelings about all this later. Let's focus on us today!" She smiled.

We continued our stroll into town. Being up close did not improve the look of the place. It's been too soon to look completely rundown, but the neglect was slowly making its mark on the buildings. I pointed out local businesses I could remember to Anne.

"That was a sporting goods store, they mostly sold hunting equipment. Over there was a supermarket." I had to talk about all these places in past tense.

"How do any of the locals get matter vials?"

"Oh, they likely mail them in." I don't think they've killed the post office yet, so they should be able to get something for the conjurators. Then my eyes locked on that.

"What's that?" Anne peered where I was transfixed.

Over in that direction was a sufficiently barren alleyway, the place where I would duck into to practice my magic one fateful day. The day I would run into an orc running a meat stand.

"Oh no, you don't mean..."

I have encountered the very place where I had lost my arm all those years ago, and that very reunion would send a shiver down my spine. A bead of sweat rolled down my forehead.

Anne squeezed my hand tighter. "We don't have to do this right now..."

"No." I shook my head. "I need to face this."

With Anne by my side, we stepped in the forgotten alleyway. The walls were covered in grafitti, warnings of a curse, of an orc that vanished down this way. I guess my dad eating him wound up creating an urban legend.

My heart was pounding out of my chest, it felt heavy, like Marduk's entire weight was localized in my breast. I maintained my breathing, as it came into view. A small little stand, rundown, covered in dust and graffiti. The tags on the stall were all of names.

"I'm surprised people came down here if they thought it was cursed." Anne postulated. "Maybe it was some sort of test of courage? I wonder if there's anything left back here." As she went behind the counter and out of earshot. Maybe she could still hear my narration from over there? I don't know. Honestly, I needed this moment to my thoughts.

I felt the stained wood of the counter under my hands. It was cold, it hadn't known warmth in a long time. The dust rubbed off, leaving dark marks on the tips of my fingers. Isn't the last time this place left an impression on me. I remembered his words, the ones he said on the day my life changed forever.

"Now you have no future kid. You might as well be my next meal."

'No future.' Yeah, that basically had been the last 7 years of my life. He taught me a powerful lesson that day, that hope didn't weigh as much as fear. I've been only surviving, just trying to get to the next day. No sense trying to improve my situation, the very attempt at it is when life slaps you down into the dirt. That's how I've been living, hiding from the hand of fate's harsh grip.

"Hey um, I've been trying not to eavesdrop but um," Anne said pensively, "do you need a hug?"

At least, that's how I was living, until I found my sanctuary. "It's okay, just, working through some unresolved feelings."

"Well, I'm always here to support you if you need it okay?" Anne smiled.

Maybe this current life will all go away someday. Maybe the hand of fate is hovering over me, waiting to wrap its ice cold digits around me once more. However, now that I've tasted the sweet nectar of hope, I'm not so quick to give it up. "Thank you, Anne."

She beamed at my gratitude, before swiftly pointing behind her. "By the way, I think I found a hidden safe? Doesn't look like it has been opened in a long time."

"What?" At that, I made my way behind the counter and towards the back where Anne was standing. Built into the wall was a handle and combination code. "It's a magical wall safe! Good eye!"

"It's kinda hard not to see that protruding from there."

"True, but usually these have perception blockers. You just happen to be powerful enough to see through it."

I knelt down and felt the surface. The bit of wall around the handle and combination lock felt different from the rest of the wall. It felt like metal. I cast an unlock spell on the combination and it just whirled around to the correct digits on its own.

"I'm surprised he went through the trouble of hiding it, but didn't put magic defenses on the lock." Anne observed.

"He probably thought there wasn't anyone powerful enough to even see it."

The door swung up and we were struck by a blast of cold air. It was a locked fridge? I could feel magic, probably enhanced to keep things from spoiling. As the air cleared up, we could finally see the contents, and our jaws DROPPED!

"Raina... is that..."

"It's my arm!"

There it was, in pristine condition as if it had been cut off yesterday. I saw it melt away in that orc's hand, I assumed he destroyed it, but apparently he was sending it to his hidden fridge?

Thinking back, maybe the orc wanted me to think it was destroyed.

I reached in and picked it up. Too much time has passed to reattach it now. First of all, I lost this thing when I was 13, it was way too small for me now. Not to mention, enough time had gone by that I was a completely different person from back then. You’d have an easier time recreating the arm from scratch using the DNA then trying to make this old one match.

However, the fact it has returned to me now of all times was a sign. If it could persevere, then maybe I can too.

I placed the arm in my inventory. Anne was a little conflicted about this revelation, but she smiled that I seemed to be content with this outcome. I closed the safe and it spun closed. I stood up and took Anne's arm and I led her out the alley. I peered over my shoulder once, but outside that, I didn't look back. It's time to step forward.

"Rachel star is twinkling. I wonder if Debra star finally confessed?"

"Well, that Debra star is a brave one! Probably swept her right off her feet!"

We spent the day touring the town. We saw a movie, ate dinner at a restaurant from my childhood, and it all ended up here, in my old home. We were laying on the roof shipping the stars like I used to do with mom.

The bakery was rundown, practically debilitated after sitting alone for so long. It was covered in graffiti and dust. You'd think seeing the place in this state would throw me into a fit of depression like encountering the alleyway did, but surprisingly, I was okay.

Between Raina getting arrested and Panchi adopting a kid, the last few weeks have been nuts. It's been a while since I could just patrol the streets. Not literally. The sidewalks were so packed that I turned into a ghost and was hovering a few feet off the ground. I was phasing through anyone in my way. I'm sure it gave a few people a fright, but it was better than bumping into royalty and irrationally fearing for your head.

"Morning, Princess!" Shouted one individual. I recognized her as one of the prisoners I was locked up with during the early days.

"Princess! Hi!" And that was one of the anthros that came with Foxman. Of course I waved to everyone who greeted me.

Most of the original citizens from before the Marduk deal tended to treat me like an old friend. They knew my whole deal from experience. However, many of the newcomers would either seem to treat me with fear or reverence. I guess they were used to living under actual Kings and Queens who would kill for any disrespect.

However, another trend I've been seeing were people looking at me with malice in their eyes. Just a short glance, a short flash of their true feelings before they glanced away. I hoped they were simply people who disagreed with my policies but had to come to Sanctuary because they didn't have anywhere else to go. Not sure who could disagree with a policy everyone was currently benefiting from including themselves but whatever. I'd prefer that to be the case than plotting terrorists or something. Not that they could do anything to me, but if they did anything to anyone else that would be worse. We've been able to defuse any scheming thanks to the lackees, but how long until something slips through.

I remembered the demon war, the one we were supposed to fight. Sotakeh assured me the demons that were coming to Sanctuary weren't the ones we were inevitably going to fight, but the uncertainty was honestly kinda worse. I have no idea what's coming next.

"I got a look at the Princess' underwear when she hovered by just now!"

"Lucky!"

And I was immediately distracted by a bunch of horny kids. I simply sighed, flew closer to the ground and continued my patrol.

I turned down a residential area. These were private properties owned by higher middle class families, a mixture of anthros, monsters, and humans. While homes were provided for anyone that needed them, those homes were owned by the state and had to be returned to us when they moved out. Not to mention, they could only be modest, big enough to fit your needs and nothing else.. Because of that, many save up for a home they can officially call their own. Owning a place in this neighborhood was a dream to many. Not sure why. All the houses looked exactly the same from one another, lined perfectly in a row.

At least there was way less foot traffic down this road. The only people around were the ones that lived here, walking wherever they needed to be. Considering it was morning, some were even jogging. Of course I got the mixture of people waving at me and people bowing to me. I'm going to guess some were originals who saved up to move here, and some were newcomers who brought the wealth they already had.

After floating around for a while, I stumbled into a park. People were walking their pets, some of them were species I didn't even recognize. There was a playground in the distance where children of many kinds were playing together. It warmed my heart to see. Those kids will grow up to be so open minded!

"My Bunibel attacks you for 15% damage!"

"Ha! My hidden warrior jumps out in attack!"

"Demon Lord Ewe? No! You can't possibly have the loyalty points for her!"

"Fool! I've been building them up the whole game! And now she strikes you for 35%!"

"AAAGGGGH I LOST!"

"Hahahahaha, hand over your Pandora card as you agreed!"

However, my attention was stolen by a bunch of kids on a picnic bench playing some sort of card game. They couldn't have been more than 10-12, or at least the equivalent for their various species. I hovered over to them.

"Um, Princess Anne O'Maley?"

"Ha! That card was only recently issued! You wouldn't have that one yet!"

"I mean, she's literally coming over here!"

Literally every kid suddenly glanced at my direction and shot up from their seats. "Princess!"

"Don't mind me!" I said with an awkward smile and a wave.

Despite my request, they all got out of their seats and ran up to me.

"Wow, it's really her!"

"She can really turn into a ghost!"

"You were awesome in the courtroom brawl!"

"You and Raina were like the kickass battle couple!"

I was suddenly overwhelmed with comments as they talked about all sorts of stuff: compliments, questions, it was all over the place.

Eventually they settled down long enough for me to ask what they were playing. "We're playing Angels and Demons!"

"Yeah! It's really fun!"

Ah, I heard of that trading card game. Bonnie reached out to me saying that they wanted to make a card of me. I gave my consent, but she mostly did the work for it. After the brawl, now they've reached out to Raina. How long until Panchi gets a card?

"I'm definitely somewhat familiar with it, but I've never engaged with the game mechanics and what not. Would you teach me?"

Their eyes all shimmered at the request. "Heck yes! We'll teach you!"

"Darek! Don't curse in front of the Princess!"

"...you just said 'ass' earlier."

Eventually they settled down. They told their play mat to go into "tutorial mode" and suddenly I realized that these cards were magical in nature. The decks start shuffling on their own.

They began to explain the rules. Basically, the playing field was a battlefield where they could place warriors. Each player is a powerful mage with a magic that starts the game at 0%. The goal of the game is to get past the other team's warriors so you can attack the other player directly. This can either be done by being tricky, wiping out the current warriors on the field and surprise attacking the other player, or wiping out all the other player's warriors in their deck so they have nothing to protect themselves with. The first to reach 100% loses

Each player starts with five cards and can draw one card each turn. They can also return a card to their deck each turn, either from their hand or from their side of the field. Each warrior on the field can only attack once per turn.

There were five kinds of cards. 

First up were angels. They can be played on any turn and they are always loyal to you, however they are a temporary cost of your magic as long as they are on the field. You don't get your magic back until the turn after that warrior is discarded or put back in the deck, so this could leave you vulnerable. 

Next up were spell cards where the player can attack directly. This also eats up magic until the next turn, but it could be what gets a specific warrior off the field. The players can only cast one spell per turn.

Then there were the demon cards. These were fickle as they weren't automatically loyal to you. You had to gain loyalty points over the course of the game. If you play a card when you haven't accumulated enough, they could disobey your orders or even go into your opponent's deck. However, if you gain enough points to earn their fealty, they are very powerful and dangerous.

There are a number of ways to gain loyalty points, but the most common was spending loyalty cards, at least one per turn. This was the most dangerous way to do it as your opponent can see you setting up for a demon.

And the final kind of card is both the most rare and the most common: the immortal cards. There are a very few varieties of these cards in existence. Even with my inclusion, there's only a handful. Immortal cards both cast magic to play and require loyalty cards. They are the hardest cards to play, but they are all incredibly powerful... well, all except one, but we'll get into that later.

"Hey, before you absorb my Pandora card, would you give me a chance to win it back?" Pleaded the kid who lost.

"You know what? I'm feeling sportsmanlike today." He glanced at me when he said that. He clearly just didn't want to look like a jerk in front of me. "Okay, I'll give you a chance." 

"Mage Darek and Mage Carmel wish to do battle." The mat said. I guess it gave an ambiance to have an announcer.

"You're not getting your Pandora card back!" Darek stated.

"We'll just see about that." I saw that Carmel had slipped in a card they had hidden in their backpack. A wild card, I guess.

They had a pretty incredible game. Darek had devastated Carmel halfway through with a time spell that made lower rarity non-immortal cards grow old and die on both sides of the field. Despite that, they carried on.

It was the final round. Both decks were practically empty, it was down to two warriors on each side, one was laid faced down in hiding, the other was-

"Captain Udon, I saved the best for last!" Shouted Darek mischievously. "I don't even know what kind of bluff you're pulling, laying that face down. We both know Captain Udon is one of the best demon cards there is! You might as well surrender."

Carmel simply smirked. "You're mistaken, I've already won."

He huffed. "Confident, huh? Well, let's see if you can back it up. Captain Udon! Destroy that card in hiding!"

A laser pistol appeared above the card and fired at the face down card.

"The attack did 0 damage." Said the mechanical announcer.

"What? How is that possible unless..." His eyes go wide with realization. "...you have an immortal card?"

"I've been saving it for just this occasion!" They flipped over the card

Darek looked on in horror. "No! That's-"

"The Void Swordswoman." Carmel crossed their arms, the air of a chess master making the perfect play. "Now, destroy Captain Udon!"

A pure white sword appeared above the card and struck the other card. It disappeared into the discard pile.

"Captain Udon has been wiped from existence. Mage Darek no longer has any warriors. Mage Carmel is the victor!"

All the kids cheered in excitement at the climatic finish. The loser was kind of stunned. He looked like he wanted to flip a table over, but he glanced at me before tempering his rage. He silently hands over the Pandora card. "Here. You earned this."

Carmel happily took the card back. Darek was just about to leave when they stopped him. "Hey, good game!"

He was a little surprised, probably was expecting his opponent to rub it in like he would have. However, then he smiled and offered his hand to shake. The two shook and they seemed to have become deeper friends that day.

Soon after, he leaves and the victor is happily fawning over their card. "I shouldn't have betted on you my sweet." They said, kissing it.

"Are the Pandora cards that valuable?"

"Nah, they mostly suck. At least a single one does."

"Huh?"

They explained that the Pandora cards were immortal cards, but unlike the others they were absurdly common and weak on their own. Not to mention, considering what they did in the game, they weren't worth the price. 

However, Pandora cards were unique in that they could be magically combined to become stronger. Collect enough and you could have one tough card on your hands. They said theirs was 32 cards fused into one, so it was x32 stronger than a normal card.

Also, legend says that if you combine enough Pandora cards, it'll become a brand new, incredibly powerful card. This card is worth its weight in kons, and its very existence will change the game forever. However, this has never been accomplished before, so it could only exist in the realm of myth.

"Hey, can you hold up that card for me so I could see, please?" I asked.

Carmel held it up. I've heard of Dorothy Pandora from history books. She was notorious as a watcher, one that took a passive role in history. I saw the card and... was she really just a birthday present with eyes?

Multiverse A was weird. I wished I lived there!

-----

It's been almost a month since Belovi joined my family and things have started to settle into a routine. I don't know if it normally takes that long to get used to a new kid. Maybe things just happen fast here? Raina and Anne got engaged after 6 months after all.

Though I couldn't help notice that a lot of my techniques are super useful for childrearing, which considering the whole matriarch system, must be intentional. For example, whenever Belovi wakes me in the middle of the night, I can just use #3 Energy Shake to literally shake off my exhaustion and tend to her needs. Then afterwards, I use #80 Dream's Victim to immediately fall back asleep for ample rest time. Not that I need the sleep because of  #86 Dream's Convict, but it helps with the whole 'not being eaten by my own void' thing to get in the full eight hours every night.

Belovi sure was happy. Considering she was living in alleyways until now, I'm sure this life is a massive improvement.

She's gotten used to Second, so starting today, she's going to make weekly trips to the lackee cave so she can learn about her own kind. Coozin was tied up with work, so I alone came to the front gate to see her off.

"Greeting Lord Panchi. I'll be looking after your daughter today." Second said with a bow.

"Please take good care of her." I said with a smile. I put a hand on Belovi's head. "You be a good girl for the other lackees, ya hear?"

"Yes, Papa!" She said obediently.

I only hoped I did my job well enough that she understood what I meant by 'good.' "Well, have a fun day with Uncle Second!"

“I will!” She took a few steps towards him before turning back to me. "I love you, Papa!"

"Wh-" I froze in place. Where did she learn that from? Who taught her that? Wait, no, I have to return it, don't I? "I-I L-L-L-"

But she had already turned away and taken Second's hand. "Are the lackees nice?"

"Consider your Lord Panchi's daughter, they most likely will be."

"What's a lackee?"

"Oh..."

The pair walked out of ear shot and I was left there with my thoughts. She spoke words that I don't really hear, at least not referring to me. Just the shock of hearing it was enough to stun lock me. A martial arts master defeated by a single phrase spoken by a little girl.

“Really, that’s all it took to defeat you?” Coozin was roaring with laughter. 

It was our lunch break the same day and we decided to eat out on the terrace in our shared room. I was telling the story as we ate our bento boxes.

"Well, I'm not used to hearing it." I'm really not.

"I think it's cute!" She said, batting her eyelashes at me. "To think all I had to do to mess with you was to say three little words."

And I couldn’t stand for this hypocrisy. "Oh, and what words were those?"

Coozin's confident smirk drained from her face. "Uh, you know, what, Belovi said."

"I'm blanking, care to repeat them?"

"..."

We both fell silent, choosing to focus on the food rather than the density of the air. At least for a while. But Coozin eventually relented. "I admit, I have problems with that word, too. I'm not sure what I'd do if someone said it to me, either."

"She's most likely going to say it to you eventually."

"That's right... she would say it to me..." She had a look of resignation on her face. "I need to mentally prepare myself for it."

"Maybe you can prepare in front of a mirror?"

That got a chuckle from her. "Haha, maybe I can find an ageplay ASMR video or something as part of my training."

"Oh, you stumbled onto those as a kid, too?"

We laughed as we reminisced about our fucked up childhoods growing up with way too much access to the internet. Before long, we finished our meals and we were resting our stomachs as we looked out over Sanctuary.

Then Coozin made a crazy suggestion. "Heh, wouldn't it be weird if we said it to each other?"

"Yeah, I couldn't even imagine it."

We're friends not lovers. We may live together and raise a kid together, but our feelings are strictly platonic.  However, it's not impossible for friends to say the word 'love' to each other. It doesn't need to be romantic to be said. There's many facets to love. Familiar, friendly, it's all fair game when it comes to that word.

That said, saying it was not a requirement for friendship like it would for a romantic relationship.

Coozin kept peeking at me. She was rubbing her elbow, nervously. "Hey Panchi."

"Yeah?"

"...I'm sorry, this is probably a little too heavy a question to ask right after lunch..."

"Better now than when Belovi comes back." There's not much room for alone time now-a-days. Could be another week before she gets another shot.

"Well, I was wondering if Leahdah ever said that."

I felt a lump in my throat the second that name came up. "What?"

"Has Leahdah ever said that to you? Like, when you were growing up?"

Now that she mentioned it. "I don't think she ever did."

"Not once?"

"I don't think she had the capacity for it."

My mom expected love to come her direction, but she was never willing to give it back. She was a vacuum that sucked up all the love for herself, only ever faking affection to get more of what she needed. I don't think she ever said those words to any of her kids growing up.

"I'm sorry." Coozin's head was tilting downwards. She can hear my narration so I guess she just heard some details about my life she normally wouldn't have.

"No, don't apologize. You just made me realize something I never knew about myself."

"It still sucks though." She said, holding her own hand and rubbing them together contemplatively. "I think you deserved to hear it."

I was glad she felt that way. Though, it made me realize something. "Coozin, did your mother ever say that to you?"

"Oh, I mean, she used to when I was really young. But when it became clear I was never going to master the art well..."

The love dried up. Like a well during a drought.

"But it's fine. I didn't really deserve it."

"What are you talking about!" I shouted.

"Panchi?"

"Of course you deserve it! You deserve it simply for existing! For-" I was getting worked up. I took a breath and brought myself down a bit. "You're amazing the way you are!"

She was stunned, her eyes trembling as she looked at me. It was thanks to this conversation that I realized that we both needed to hear it.

"Coozin." I reached out and took her hand. I looked her in the eyes and spoke from deep within my heart. "I love you."

Tears welling in her eyes, she was practically beaming. "I love you too, Panchi!"

That night, Belovi came back to the mansion. She was full to the brim with things she observed, and she was still spilling them out as we all prepared for bed. "There was a fighter lackee and a science lackee! Oh! Hey Mama, there was a Chef Lackee! His food isn't as tasty as yours, but it was still SOO GOOD!"

"Hehe, maybe I need to sample his cooking sometime."

Now that I think about it, I don't think I've had dinner at the local lackee cave, just the Annesville one. Maybe I'll go with Belovi next time and try it out.

"Now that's a great idea!" Coozin stated. "Maybe I'll come, too!"

"Mama and Papa in the lackee cave? Hurray!"

She had that same amount of energy up until it was finally time to get into bed.

"Ooh! There was a ballerina lackee!"

"Haha, now, now Belovi. I'm sure you have plenty more to tell us, but it's time to sleep."

"But I don't want to sleep! My brain is all think crazy!"

I picked her up and laid her down in bed. "Just then think where it's comfortable, okay? And silently."

She seemed to understand. "Alright. Good night, Papa! I love you!"

"I love you too, Belovi."

Her smile deepened when I returned it. Despite her complaints, she was out like a light. I guess it had been a busy day for her. Hearing those words this time only warmed my heart. The fear and panic I felt this morning was long gone. I guess it really helped to say how you feel sometimes.

Seems to be the same for Coozin, as she had a spring in her step. "Maybe we should sleep as well." She suggested.

The two of us got in on both sides of Belovi and we held our hands over her again like that night she moved in.

"I love you, Panchi."

"I love you, Coozin."

-----