I must know about Duchess's messy situation-ship, I love a pretty character in a messy situation-ship
Hi sorry for the delay in replying to this- I have the tumblr app on my phone for the first time and I CANNOT figure out where the ask box is- ANYWAY!!
This is Anthony! Anthony is a huge part of duchesses life- when duchess was 13 she was abandoned by her family and alone on the street. While living on the streets she ran into a group of kids beating up Anthony (which was deserved since Anthony had just scammed all of them) and Duchess came to her defense. With her unnatural strength Duchess got rid of the other kids and Anthony immediately saw dollar signs (and survival) in Duchesses abilities.
In that moment Anthony and Duchess form a duo and the two start entering Duchess in fights to win money while Anthony serves as the manager/agent in the dynamic. The two are EXTREMELY successful and eventually Duchess works her way up to being the champion of a fighting ring (that fights to the death) several years in a row.
The two are eventually able to set themselves up with a life way out of their wildest dreams (a shitty apartment and warm meals every day) and they are really happy together all things considered. Anthony pretty swiftly shifts from considering Duchess her employee to her closet friend and eventually the love of her life- while Duchess (who is dealing with her own issues) thinks they are still just business partners. They sleep in the same bed (a hold over from their time on the streets where Duchess would curl around Anthony to keep her warm and safe)
Eventually Anthony (the emotionally distant and pathetic queen that she is) buys a diamond ring for Duchess and just kinda assumes they are together and she should probably propose soon- but before she can the unthinkable happens- duchess for the first time EVER... Loses.
Anthony gets to watch in startling clarity as duchess is killed and there is nothing she can do about it. So she handles that really well obviously (has a break down, says she loves duchess for the first time out loud, etc.) and uses all her criminal underground contacts to get the info of a necromancer who can bring her back. (This part of their timeline is really detailed so pls ask follow up questions about this)
She does succeed at this- but at the cost of that diamond ring and more crucially their life savings- but that obviously won't be a problem since Duchess can just win it all back! Anthony also keeps Duchess in the dark about her death- she can't stand to admit out loud what almost happened and reasons it's better to ignore the whole endeavor.Anthony just has to make sure Duchess never loses a fight again because she can't bare to lose her again she can't bare to go without her lavishifestyle. So she pulls a few strings and gets Duchess fighting more unfit fighters- old men, sickly adults, ones without combat training and the fight that is the last straw for duchess, a child.
Duchess is horrified by being asked to hurt a kid and throws the match- before running to Anthony and begging her to run away from this life. They have enough money saved to start fresh somewhere new just the two of them. Anthony balks at the idea and tells duchess to stop being silly and listen to what Anthony tells her to do like they always have. The two get into a nasty fight culminating in duchess grabbing the box their life savings are in to demonstrate how little they need to live in danger like this only to find the box empty. Duchess pleads with Anthony to explain herself- give her a good reason for what looks like an immense betrayal and Anthony can't bring herself to tell the truth fully- she says something along the line of " so what if I took it? You would be nothing without me and it was functionally mine to spend - stop thinking about this and calm down. You do the fighting and I do the thinking- it's better for both of us if just do as I say." Duchess recoils- heartbroken thinking that she has been deceived all this time (and disgusted with herself at how much she wants to forget about all of her concerns and run back into Anthony's arms even after this shock) but instead she tucks her tail and runs.
Anthony expects Duchess to come back after cooling off (Duchess would always come home to her right?) and Duchess expects Anthony to chase her (whenever Anthony is upset Duchess chases her down to look after her- so why wouldn't Anthony do the same) By the time Anthony realizes Duchess is gone for real its too late to find her.
In the current timeline Anthony and Duchess reunite 7 years after their fight to Anthony coming on wayy too strong (constantly flirting in a way Duchess assumes is meant to be mocking) and the two are then set in an eternal cat and mouse game of 1) Anthony getting into trouble 2) Duchess working to save her 3) Anthony betraying Duchess to save her own skin
There is wayyyyy more to both characters and their dynamic but I will end it here for brevity!
