#avaricethecontractor

It took her a while to reach the remains of the lair, but she eventually arrived. The usefulness of the movement in the world was well appreciated. Some unknown force tore it apart, yet even the Charter stayed active. But she wasn’t here for the lair itself, but instead its owner.

Her wife.

Centuries. It had been an unimaginable amount of time since they’d even seen each other, but she didn’t want to wait. Even if things had gone wrong. Even if things had changed.

She descended the stairs, and eventually, she found her. Sitting alone at the foot of the Voidblade. It made her chest ache. The woman, the same one who had cost her everything, the same one she’d loved for decades, was now finally within her reach.

She settled down next to her. Avarice had her knees pulled to her chest as she stared into the waters flooding the floor. Her reflection wasn’t visible in the waves.

Her mask had been discarded, the shadow that enshrouded her skin had vanished, and in turn, a more familiar face was in its place. The sorrowful face of the woman behind the ghost.

It would be minutes before either of them spoke. Sibyl was the first to do so.

“...You have completed your goal. At the cost of others.”

Avarice didn’t respond for a moment. She didn’t meet Sibyl’s gaze. “...Those fools were doomed, anyway. This world has an expiration date, and it is soon.”

“Yet, you chose to bring it closer for some. Innocent souls who had nothing to do with this. With us.”

“I don’t need a lecture. You brought them back. I brought you back. What is the plan now...?”

Sibyl didn’t respond. She pushed herself to her feet, staring into the darkness of the Voidblade, her arms folded behind her back. She let out a heavy sigh, the sound of someone making a decision. “Ava, my dear. There is no plan. There is no future. I have seen it, I have foretold it.”

Avarice’s posture shifted to something close to offense. “I didn’t waste my time gathering those morons just for you to deny me. I did this for you, why can’t you understand that...?” She stood, now glaring at her former lover with contempt. “I have done all of this for you, and you choose now to change your mind!? Are you insane?”

“No, you are! You have taken lives, crossed lines, cast that god-forbidden spell all that time ago! We could have gotten out, but you itched for power, for a solution that you knew would only bring ruin!”

Sibyl stepped closer, glaring down at the ghost with an expression both angered and haunted. “I loved you, Ava, but you have truly lived up to your name. You let greed consume you, and you killed my wife. You left nothing but a monster in her wake.” The words were bitter, and her voice trembled as she spoke.

“You are unfit to walk this plane.”

Avarice froze. “...No. N-No, don’t you dare! I’ll tear you apart before you could even think of doing that!” She didn’t get a chance to move before light blue chains wrapped around her wrists, anchoring her to the floor. The glow of Salvation shone above her, held by the woman she once loved.

“...So this is how it ends. You truly didn’t think ahead as I did, then.”

Sibly couldn’t meet her eyes. She brought her arms down, the sword cleaving the contractor in two, her body dissipating with a final scream as she vanished into soul particles. She sheathed the blade before sighing and wiping away a tear.

“...Goodbye, my love.”

The leaves of the forest trees shook with rousing voices. The guards marched through the woods, armed with both weapons and unrelenting fury. The king had set out for them in search of the two women running from them.

Avarice never wanted this. She never intended for her love to become entwined with her own business, but it was too late now. Her lover was bleeding out, the poor creature, and all she could do was try to run with S████ to the safest place she knew: the tower on the outskirts, surrounded by protective magic that would keep the angry crowd away from them.

Every step was a race against time.

What she had planned was a drastic, desperate move, one she knew her love would hate, but they had no time. The moment they got inside, Avarice placed her wife on the bed. Fear gripped her heart; the suspense of the impending danger was suffocating.

Avarice ransacked through her books and shelves in search of what she needed. This couldn't happen, not to the two of them. The spell was always a last-ditch measure, reserved for when things got too bad. Avarice had to go through with it.

She knew the cost. The goddess warned her of what would happen, but there was no time. Everything was prepared, but the sound of the shuffling of sheets made her freeze. Her wife was awake, staring at her with a mix of shock and betrayal in her eyes.

"…Ava. You said you would not."

"But I have to! Either that or we both die!"

S████ gave her wife a heartbroken stare. "My love, you are throwing away our lives for something much worse than death. This is not the way."

"I'm doing it anyway. I'm not letting you die in front of me. I'm doing this for us, why don't you under-"

"But do you know what you are truly doing?"

The silence from Avarice was loud. Yet, she waved her hand, and the spell began. Her eyes met her wife's betrayed and heartbroken gaze.

"I'm sorry, my love. I'll get you back, I promise."

Inspired by Arathain's Mouthpiece-related Tumblr posts.

The white skies stretched on for miles—nothing but the maddening white and blue of the Empyreal that lined the earth. She sat on her knees, staring at her reflection in the colorless waters of False Heaven. Her expression was blank, a sense of something—not guilt, but resentment—plastered onto their face.

The sound of footsteps, nearly imperceptible yet carrying the weight of something ancient, was heard from behind her. The soft, pliant surface of the Empyreal muffled the sound. The figure settled beside her, yet stayed standing, arms folded behind their back. A featureless face somehow conveyed an unsettling smile.

The crouched figure didn't move, but the tiniest hint of a downward curve of her closed lips conveyed her opinion on the situation. The standing figure didn't miss the little detail.

"I expected you to fail, to be honest," said the figure, a tone too off-putting to be truly happy. "They always do. That's why she's had so many."

Abbaddon didn't speak, at least for a moment. Then, she exhaled, a sound resonant and tired, yet still holding on to lingering anger.

"I'm not in the fucking mood. If you have nothing better to say, then fuck off—"

She didn't finish the sentence, not before a sound was heard, unmistakably a mocking laugh. She whipped around, staring at the creature with fury, but the figure simply kept its militant stance.

"I have many things to say to you. Yet, I feel as if you won't listen to a single one." A pink eye took in Abbaddon's increasingly angry expression.

Abbaddon scoffed, eyes narrowed and fixated on them. "I don't want to hear about how much I fucked up. It's my fault for believing I could beat them."

The figure let out a sound, almost another laugh, but not quite. "Oh, it's obvious what happened. I keep a watchful eye on everything, especially you and your beloved goddess." The mention of Her made Abbaddon tense a bit, her anger flickering into something close to offense. "I made a stupid deal. I—"

"…and now, you realize the consequences. You were much too trusting of that poor excuse for a deity, and now look at you. Your time here is limited."

"…Limited?" Abbaddon replied, confusion and something close to fear etched onto her face. "No. I need to leave this goddamn place so I can get back home and kill Niki and her entire stupid team."

The figure tilted its head at an unnatural angle, the pink glow of its eye unrelenting. "You forgot that wonderful clause, didn't you? As her angel, upon the claiming of your soul, you'll be eradicated. Ceasing to exist in every timeline."

Abbaddon's breath caught in her throat. Her fists clenched, knuckles turning white as she suddenly grabbed the figure by the shoulders, her expression pleading. "Tell me how to stop it. I can't fucking lose like this, not to them!"

The figure just stared, as if both analyzing and mocking the fallen angel. "Poor fool, there is no stopping it. However, I came to give you a much better purpose."

"What? What the hell are you—" Before she could finish, the figure had her pinned to the floor, its hands glowing with a harsh pink light that flickered like a growing flame. Its eye snapped down with an unsettling intensity.

"Your existence will be repurposed, and you will be the first step towards the Renewal. Goodbye."

The sounds of screams rang out throughout False Heaven. Divine fire enveloped the angel, burning away her form slowly, the figure simply watching with sadistic glee as it held her by the throat with a torturous, unyielding grip, the other hand placed upon her chest.

Abbaddon tried to fight back, limbs flailing as she tried to claw at the figure, but her efforts were futile. The screams gradually became quieter, and after a while, they stopped.