Before my palm can even meet with my face at the idiocy of this stranger who just rushed into the center of the room to meet face to face with the boss herself, a powerful gunshot leaves a small smoking crater between Coyotl’s feet, the boss now with rifle in hand.
“Fucking hell, you’re loud as shit. And you’re no heartthrob, so don’t expect to be taking anyone’s heart anytime soon, let alone mine,” she quips, standing up and shrugging as her gun hangs loose in her grip. “You even made me ruin my floor just to shut your stupid trap. A mouth not even a girlfriend would kiss. Then again, I doubt you’d even get so far as getting a girl to let you approach her, so try not to feel too bad about that, hmm?”
Coyotl stands there, both furious and fearful beneath the stature of the boss. Don’t get me wrong, she’s shorter than the stranger, but goddang, she stands like she owns the whole freaking world. Her voice sounds like it too, a floaty, carefree tone masking the deadly edge behind each word, like she can speak however she wants and still make you piss your pants.
“Y...you--”
BANG.
Yeesh. I think her goal was to shut them up, but the restrained scream from Coyotl’s mouth is anything but quiet as they grasp at the bleeding hole in their palm. Then the woman begins to pace about her room without so much as a glance at the stranger.
“For reference: I. Don’t. Miss. If I wanted you dead, you’d have a hole in your heart already. And if you have more than one in that shiny new shambling body of yours, I’d just shoot til I’ve hit enough to hear you gasp your last breath. But I’ve heard enough, you existing as you are is really the only important thing about you,” she says, pouring herself a glass of wine from her kitchen space and swirling the thick liquid before taking a sip.
“Alright, come out, you two. I’m sure you had some grand plan set up to put me on my knees, but the oaf being here means you’ll just have to seduce me instead~”
Ugh. She’s like Niamh, only without...actually, no, she’s pretty much just another Niamh to me right now, only much, much more dangerous. Still, we know how serious the snake can get, and there’s no telling what this lady is capable of, so sticking to a plan might--
“And don’t even think about starting any hairbrained schemes. The moment you make any move out of line, the new one dies. Am I clear, Twin Tails?”
I don’t know what makes me groan more, the lack of power we have as a result of Coyotl, or the fact that she uses not just any nickname, but that nickname, with such sadistic delight. Well...not much we can do if we want to keep our only possible lead on Yombroila any less injured, or at least alive. Stepping out of the dark, I reveal myself to the boss, keeping my eyes pinned on her like flaming darts as I take my place next to Coyotl.
“We are going to have a very serious chat after this, Coyotl,” I mutter while taking their hand and looking it over.
Thankfully, as is the case for most Ascended, they’re healing quickly. Extremely quickly, in fact, faster than I’ve seen Fox or myself regenerate before. They must have been battered up real bad to have shown up in Aspen Town in the state they were in...
“Oh, don’t be so drab!” the boss says, nay, orders. “All I want you here for is a pleasant conversation, and were it not for your stupid friend here, that may have been unpleasantly delayed! Pleasure to meet you, by the way, Cat. I’ve heard wonderful things about you.”
A grimace crosses my face as I tense up, clutching my paws into fists as her highground becomes clearer and clearer, even more so as she claps her hands and stares at me with a devilish grin. It’s not the mischievous, fun kind Fox makes, but a sadistic one, a mask of feigned friendliness atop a sinister shine.
“Now come on, where’s the other half.”
I sigh, looking back to the shadows sadly. “She wants to talk, Fox. It’s that, or Coyotl’s life.”
The playful sneakiness of my partner leaves her body as she drags herself out from the shadows, ears pinned back in discomfort as she scampers to my side, the boss’ eyes glued to her the whole while with a devious curiosity.
“And what have we here?” the boss exclaims jubilantly, “Fox is a fox! However did this happen?”
“Wish we knew. She can’t understand you, by the way.”
“Well, for her sake, you’d better hope you’re as good of a translator as you are being a hot as lead cat burglar.” The boss shakes her head with a chuckle, closing her eyes and holding her forehead in her fingers. “Still can’t believe it. The cat burglar became a Cat. Ah, the wonders we could have at our fingertips if only we could harness that light.”
“And you think beating the stuffing out of the first new Ascended you see is the key to that?”
The boss has to catch herself as she snorts mid-sip, putting her glass down on a nearby table and letting out a good chuckle.
“Oh, pish posh, it’s one bullet hole. For now. Builds character. Now, if you mean how you found the poor sap? Babe.” I want to gut her right then and there. “They wouldn’t have made it to your rinky dink town were it not for my forces.”
I raise an eyebrow at the boss, then glance down at Coyotl. While I’m more inclined to believe a victim, an Ascended one at that, they are incredibly stupid and the boss seems more keen on giving answers than them.
“Go on,” I say before immediately regretting falling in line with the boss which is right where she wants me to be as evident by her terrible grin returning.
“While it was my forces that drove them from their hiding place...you might be interested in just where that hiding place was by the way, it was the police that battered them up. My goons helped to keep as many off them as they could.”
My gaze travels from Coyotl to the boss and back again.
“So when you said ‘underworld,’ you were referring to the inciting incident, not the injuries.”
The stranger is silent, hanging their head as they shake with anger and frustration before nodding.
“Y’know,” I start, “Yombroila might have hid a lot of things, but she was clear about what she wanted, and told us everything we needed to know at the time at least. If you’re gonna be shady, at least try to tone it down for the people helping you, maybe?”
This seems to make Coyotl withdraw even more, and suddenly I feel a little bit guilty, even if they’re the reason we’re in this whole mess to begin with, I understand how it feels to be put on the spot like this. Thanks, traumatic education system. For now, however, I relent, turning back to the boss with a cross of my arms.
“Now, you said something about their hiding place?”
“Inkton Manor.”
Now my eyes are on Coyotl and just Coyotl. Something is up. I knew something was up the moment they walked into town, but this? I didn’t think my suspicion could have risen any higher, but here we are.
“Well, Coyotl?”
“I’m looking for answers just like you are!!”
Their sudden outburst catches me off guard, yet the boss watches with unbridled joy as Coyotl shakes and...whimpers?
“I...I don’t know how this happened. I knew people who Ascended, I’ve kept my eyes on the situation, kept in...contact with people. I know the goddess is gone, and yet...I don’t understand how I came to be like this…I shouldn’t be like this!”
Hmm. I want to doubt them, and I’m still suspicious, yet something about their explanation rings true almost.
“So you, in your confusion and stupidity, raided the one place connected to Ascending outside of Aspen Town itself.”
I’m about to ask why they didn’t approach Aspen Town first, but then I remember how eagerly they jumped in front of the boss without so much as a second thought. Or a first thought, really.
“Yes...and it was empty.”
The boss, having moved back to her comfy throne, now sits on the edge of her seat, joining me in my shock.
“Empty? No Waywright? No Radiant? No nothing?”
They nod at me before pulling up their sleeves to reveal large mechanical cuffs around each of their wrists, silver chains hanging from a slot in each.
“Nothing but books I could not understand and relics, such as these cuffs, which I’d stolen in hope of protecting myself...or finding more answers.”
“And you grabbed these items knowing Waywright deals with magic of all sorts, not considering that they could end up hurting you?”
“I-I was desperate, and it turned out fine…!”
The throned boss chortles, then throws her head back in a rancorous laughter before bringing her gaze back down to our group.
“Not even the underworld dares to touch ‘em, you nimrod! Ohh, I’m so sorry, Cat, you caught yourself a real winner with this one!”
I absolutely despise how much I agree with her. On top of that, Coyotl appears even more frustrated by her chiding and prodding, and as mad as I am at them, I can understand a lot of where they’re coming from. This lady ain’t helping, but she has a point though...Coyotl is hiding something. Their story just doesn’t add up, and I fear what truth my intuition points to. Still, Coyotl is far from the biggest threat here, I can deal with them later. For now...
“Yeah, yeah, you know what we know, we know what you know, now can we get on to why you really wanted us here? Because I really doubt you needed us to watch you be an ass to Coyotl when you’ve got an army of goons at your disposal.”
Her evil smile returns as she leans forward and locks her fingers around one another, resting her elbows on her knees and her chin on her hands.
“Always on track. I like that about you, Cat. I admire you even, in some ways. There’s lots of silly people in this world, people who would dance about the crux of things, lie and tell half truths. Some might even consider me one of them.”
Our eyes stay locked on one another. As much as she wants to seem like she can read deep into me, I know there’s only so much she can glean that she doesn’t already know.
“But you know better than that. You peer deeper than others. You see me for who I am. You can hate me. Despise me. Plot against me and see to it that my fate under your heel is all but sealed.”
She stands up, Coyotl even taking a step back while Fox moves closer to my front once the boss begins moving towards me.
“But at the end of the day, you’ll always know. You see a monster, an evil with absolute control over all that you hold dear. I command half of Subterfuge’s population with barely a sneeze, yet I know the true value and weight even a single life holds...especially to the ones who care so deeply about them. Bearing witness to this truth, you are already within my grasp.”
A dark gust of wind blows through my soul, and I almost consider backing down for a moment.
But I burn brighter than that darkness.
“Fuck you.”
On one hand, she got just the answer she wanted, clear by the smile on her face. On the other, the tone I speak said answer with catches her off guard, the slightest bit of nervousness becoming ever so slightly apparent. Any fear she expected to tremble through my voice is burned away by a sizzling rage.
“So what? You’re gonna threaten to hurt the ones I love. The new home I’d helped to build. To tear it all down and make me grovel at your feet. To force your bidding upon me like some hulking, writhing, collared juggernaut.”
I take a step forward, and for the first time since I’d seen her, she moves to a tune besides her own, one foot moving behind the other.
“I know your game. I know your type. Sick fucks like you who think they’re above it all.”
Another step forward for me, another step back for her.
“Waywright. Ares. Metatron. Even Harold fucking Railson. All of you think you’re above others, whether it’s due to some self imposed righteousness, ego, hatred, I don’t give a SHIT what, but something deep inside your pathetic little selves makes you believe you can control others.”
Onwards and on I move, and soon enough, the boss finds herself back in her seat, my gaze burning through her.
“And I’ve played every hand. Every fucking game those pricks played, I played better. So go on!” I nearly shout, my voice raising in volume the longer I go on now that I’m leaning over the small woman, pressing my finger to her chest and watching her squirm. “Make your move. I’ll play your fucking game. And I’ll win, whether you concede, or, I sear every hair off that pretty. Little. Body. In a blaze of fire and ash.”
…
Dammit...I let my anger get the better of me again. But...maybe this will at least teach her a lesson about who not to mess with.
“...Such ferocity…~”
Is...is she blushing…?
More importantly...where is that...light coming from…?
Our eyes hadn’t left each other’s for a moment, the anger and fear melting between us forming a disgusting concoction of vile vitriol.
And yet that light draws our eyes away all the same.
The necklace.
I don’t just see it shine, I feel its bright light inside me. A light I know better than any other, yet at a potency I’ve only ever felt once before.
“...You. You’re…”
As words escape me, a weak chuckle makes its way out of the boss’ curled lips as her gaze pulls back up to mine.
“You see now why I seek the light? Why so many down here seek it too?”
Her breathing becomes heavier and heavier the longer the light shines, the dim setting around us only seeming darker compared to its brilliance.
“So we’d not been abandoned after all…”
Suddenly, all her fears and anxieties don’t just become clear to me, but they match my own, I can feel them, I can understand her. I hate her, I want to burn her and her pride to dust, but I know her pain is like mine. Finally, I stand up straight, looking down at the boss and extending a hand to her.
“...Will you accept Ascension?”
