#arc29

"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-"