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fruit-teeth · 1 year

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Chronicles of Love and War (chapter 21)

Angelica awoke as the sun was beginning to rise outside the window. She stretched a little, her thoughts still foggy from sleep, before turning to see Spy asleep next to her. She smiled, curling close to him and gently kissing the back of his neck. He moved slightly in his sleep, smiling faintly, and she wished she could take off his mask and see his real face. Yet, she wouldn’t do that - not without asking, of course. She’d seen his face many times, but she knew how much his identity meant to him.

“I love you,” she whispered to him, though he stayed asleep, stirring quietly again.

Right at that moment, the phone on the end table rang. Angelica glanced over, and she picked it up without thinking. “Hello?”

“Howdy, ma’am,” came Engineer’s voice. “Is Spy awake yet?”

“Hey!” Angelica greeted cheerfully. “Uh, he’s still asleep - what’s up?”

“Well, I just wanted to update him on what went down last night,” Engineer began. “We got my pa out of the hospital, spent the night at the motel, and now we’re getting breakfast at the gas station! We should be back real soon,”

Angelica sighed with relief. “Oh, good! I’m glad to hear that!”

Just then, Spy fully woke up, and he nudged Angelica. “Who is that?” he asked in a hushed tone.

“Oh,” Angelica glanced back at Spy, replying, “It’s Engie, you wanna talk to him?”

Spy nodded, sitting up as Angelica passed him the phone. “Good morning, laborer,” he greeted. “I hope all is well,”

While Dell was updating Spy on what had transpired the night prior, Angelica got up and gathered her things for the shower. She wasn’t trying to listen in on their conversation, but she couldn’t help it.

"Thank you for calling, Dell, and I will also let everyone know what you’ve told me," Spy said finally as the call came to a close. “And...please tell your father that I hope we don't have any bad blood as we work through this predicament."

Angelica turned to look at Spy, watching as he hung up the phone. “Hon?” she asked, tilting her head. “What’d you mean by ‘bad blood’?”

Spy got quiet for a moment, sitting up and, in a rare moment, removing his mask to fix his hair. “It’s rather complicated, but…let us just say I may or may not have stabbed his father at some point.”

Angelica’s face fell, though she tried not to be entranced by the sight of her maskless lover. “Oh, hon…now, why would you do that!?”

“He was on the opposing team,” Spy clarified. “I had to disguise myself as him, and as to not ruin the facade, I had to stab him. Yes, Dell was upset, but he understood why I did it. That’s how these things go in this business.”

Angelica lingered, staring down at Spy’s face. Finally, she replied, “So…was that why he was in the hospital?”

“I assume,” Spy sighed.

When Angelica said nothing and sucked her lips into her mouth, Spy took a step closer to her. “Darling, this is just what this business is. You understand - this was how we met in the first place, was it not?”

“I know,” Angelica clarified quickly. “Rene, hon, I’m not judging you for this job! You know that – but…God, its gotta be pretty awkward when someone who survived one of your attacks is just…showing up again. You don’t think he’s gonna wanna get back at you for this? I get there’s bigger fish to fry, but…”

Spy took her hands into his own, giving them a squeeze. “Speak my true name quietly,” he urged her. “But I can assure you…if he wishes to get back at me, I’ll be prepared for that. I have been around this type of block many times, so to speak.”

Angelica nodded, but she could not dispel the uneasiness she felt. She rooted into him, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his shoulder. After a moment, Spy reached up and placed his hand on her head, running his fingers through her black hair.

Following a brief period of silence, Angelica pulled away and cleared her throat. “Um - I’m gonna go take a shower. You coming?”

“In a moment, darling,” Spy clarified, opening up his closet to fetch his special towels. “I have some business to attend to.”

Angelica nodded understandingly, and she opened the door to the hallway to slip out. “All right - meet you in there, sweets.”

Spy waited in the room for a bit after she went to the shower, thinking about what had just happened. Even if it offended her strongly held values, she still understood his work and how essential it was to him. She was truly everything Spy had ever wanted in a lover, and he couldn’t help but smile over how grateful he was for her. He shook himself out of his daze, got his towels and specialty soaps, and walked to the shower room to meet her. It was early still, so they would not have to worry about anyone seeing them together in there.

Not long later, Lar-Nah got up as well and headed to the basement to check on Zelda. She carried her tranquilizer with her, as she was unsure of whether or not they would need to kill Zelda just yet. Lar-Nah's current plan was to knock Zelda out again as Helen hadn't yet issued the order to kill her.

Yet she observed something peculiar when she descended the stairs to the basement: she could hear Zelda, but Zelda appeared to be...laughing. Yes, Zelda was definitely laughing…but why?

Lar-Nah opened the basement door and stepped over the barrier to the small room that was Zelda’s prison. Zelda was seated in the middle of the space, bound to the chair, and sure enough, she was chuckling to herself.

“What’s so funny?” Lar-Nah asked her, closing the door behind her and popping open her case of tranquilizers. “Not that I care, I’m just curious about what you could possibly find so funny.”

Zelda lifted her head, her hair a wreck. “Oh, it’s nothing,” she cleared her throat, the side of her mouth quirked up into a small smile. “I’m just…I keep thinking about how you still have no idea where my sister is. She’s going to find me here, you know, and she will find all of you as well.”

"Well, she's going to be outnumbered," Lar-Nah said as she took out the tranquilizer syringe. “She doesn’t have a team, remember? And without your…magic, or whatever you call it, there’s not much she can do about that.”

Zelda hummed in the back of her throat, before letting out another giggle. She was grinning again, and it looked as though she was about to say something but stopped herself.

Lar-Nah paused, syringe still poised. “...what?”

“Nothing!” Zelda trilled, eerily chipper. “I was just thinking about the pact I made with your husband…”

After a brief hesitation, Lar-Nah snapped her wrist forward and drew Zelda in close to her. “What pact?” she demanded to know, her free hand still gripping the syringe. “I swear, if you don’t tell me right now, I can go right back upstairs and get the truth serum and–”

“And then I’ll you everything you need to know,” Zelda finished, breaking out into laughter again. “Well, I can tell you, but there won’t be much good you can do about it!”

When Demoman heard the basement stairwell door burst open, he was about to get a container of quick oats from a high shelf in the kitchen. He glanced up just in time to see Lar-Nah storming out in a rage.

Curious, he called out, “What happened?”

“I’m going to kill him,” she called back.

“Kill who?” Demoman shouted back. When she didn’t answer, he went back to making the oats, though he kept nervously glancing over his shoulder.

Sniper entered the room a little while later wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt that read, ‘I ate fried clams in New Orleans.’

“Good morning,” he greeted Demo, walking over to the coffee pot. “The coffee machine in my camper’s busted, gotta use this one.”

“Fine by me, lad,” Demo hummed in reply. “Oh, by the way – Lar-Nah is fuming, and she said she’s gonna kill someone. I think Zelda said something to her…”

Sniper paused, before setting the coffee pot down with a grunt. “Hell – I’ll go see what’s up. Hope it’s not too serious.”

He walked to where the lab was, and upon seeing that the door was ajar, he pushed it open. Lar-Nah stood by her desk, the glass covering of her nightshade plant lifted as she cut the leaves.

“Hey,” Sniper called out to her, getting her attention. “Everything okay?”

Lar-Nah lingered for a moment, staring at the nightshade leaves. Finally, she looked back at him. “I think we all need to have a meeting.”

“Why?” Sniper questioned, entering the room. “What happened?”

“It’s…” Lar-Nah trailed off, and she sighed. “I don’t even know if its a concern, honestly. But – the last time you were around Bill-Bel, did you notice any strange symbols carved in his skin?”

“...uh…” Sniper winced, trying to remember. “No? Honestly, I was too pissed off to notice, not to mention all I did was shatter that jar over his head. The jar with the magic inside, not one of the…other ones. Why?”

“Well,” Lar-Nah crossed her arms, turning all the way so she could face Sniper. "I had a strange encounter with Zelda just now, and she claimed she drew some kind of marking on him to keep him from disobeying her or running. She could be lying, or maybe she feels she has nothing to lose. I’m sure the truth serum would clear that up, but this feels too specific to be a lie."

Sniper stood there for a moment, taken aback. After a moment, he cleared his throat. “Uh…is it like, uh…a sex thing? Or–”

“No!” Lar-Nah snapped. “She didn't say that, I mean. She did, however, mention that she made a deal with Bill-Bel when she initially brought him here. The sigil was part of this deal, and he is effectively tied to her forever. I guess that's why he's the mayor of this ridiculous town - she gives him whatever he wants if he does what she wants. I knew he was stupid, but agreeing to something like this is a new type of stupid, especially for him.”

“Okay, okay,” Sniper put up his hand to stop her for a moment. “Slow down and tell me the important part. What exactly got you so riled up?”

"Part of the contract has a condition where, in the event that something should happen to her, he must finish what she's started," Lar-Nah stated after a brief pause.

Sniper took this in, before clarifying, “Does that mean…?”

“If we kill her, Bill-Bel will be the one to summon The Corrupt,” Lar-Nah confirmed. “I don't know whether he even knows we abducted her, but when Bea learns Zelda is missing, she'll let him know.”

“I get that, but,” Sniper scratched his head. “Does he even know how to…do that?”

“That’s what I can’t figure out,” Lar-Nah replied. "I guess Zelda must have left him with some type of instructions to follow if they have this agreement. I wouldn't be concerned if he was working alone because I know how much he dislikes following directions, but if Bea is present, this may go wrong if they can make it work.”

Sniper went quiet for a moment, taking this in. Finally, he said, “Should I call Helen?”

“Yeah,” Lar-Nah sighed. “Or, at the very least– let everyone else know. We should have a meeting about it, I think. Because…”

“Hey, it’s fine,” Sniper cut her off, trying his best to sound reassuring. “Look, I dunno what’s gonna happen, but we’ll deal with it. Got it?”

Lar-Nah nodded, looking back to her nightshade plant. Sniper started to leave, but he turned back to look at her. “Oh, and by the way: did you end up sedating Zelda?”

“Oh–” Lar-Nah shook her head quickly. “No, I forgot. I will go do that now…”

“All right, good,” Sniper turned back to head for the phone.

Zelda was still in the basement, sitting in the chair when Lar-Nah returned. She had the syringe with her again, still clutched in her hand, but she also had a case of the truth serum with her.

“All right, Zelda,” Lar-Nah announced. “I’m going to knock you out, but first, I’m going to see if you’re telling the tr–”

Before she could finish, she noticed that the restraints that held Zelda's feet to the chair were gone, but she didn't have time to respond. Zelda leaped up, and even though her wrists were still cuffed, she smashed into Lar-Nah at full speed, knocking her to the ground.

“You harpy!” Zelda screeched at the other woman, bringing her right knee up to pin Lar-Nah to the floor. “Beast! I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you all! If you harm my sister again, I'll paint this place red with your blood and the blood of everyone here! I would destroy this whole country for her, do you hear me!?”

“Get off of me, you brainless cunt!” Lar-Nah managed to say, though it was difficult with Zelda’s knee on her windpipe. She tried to get away from her, but Zelda ducked her head and rammed her forehead against her nose.

Lar-Nah let out a shout of pain, but thought quickly and shifted just enough so she could bite Zelda on the thigh. Zelda shouted in surprise as she sank her teeth into her and instinctively drew back, allowing Lar-Nah just enough time to slip out from under her and pin her down.

At that very moment, the sound of footsteps rushed down the basement steps, and Demoman ran in. “What happened!?” he exclaimed, before halting to look at what was going on. “Uh– what the…”

Lar-Nah took her sedative syringe and injected it into Zelda's neck, knocking her out. “She got her feet free and went after me!” Lar-Nah explained, though she sniffed, noticing that her nose had started bleeding. “Damn it– we need some better way of tying her down!”

Demoman stepped in, picking up the now-unconcious Zelda and dragging her back to the chair. “How long is that going to keep her down for?” he wanted to know, gesturing to the syringe.

“Four hours,” Lar-Nah replied, pulling a tissue from her pocket and hastily mopping at her nose. “Four hours, at most…”

“Good to know,” Demoman grunted, securing Zelda’s legs back to the chair. “We’re about to have a team meeting, Spy just said so.”

Lar-Nah sniffed again, nodding. “Okay…do we have everyone here yet?”

“No,” Demo shook his head. “But I think they’ll be back soon!” he approached Lar-Nah, noticing her nosebleed. “Oh, hell, did she break your nose?”

“I don’t think so,” Lar-Nah winced, noticing she got some blood on her fingers. “There’s a first aid kit upstairs, right?”

“Aye,” Demo replied, gesturing for her to follow him up the stairs. “There’s one in the kitchen!”

Upon arriving to the kitchen, the two were greeted by the sight of Sonya, who was up and about. She was rummaging through the fridge when she noticed Demo first. “Oh, hello,” she greeted him warmly. “I want to ask one of you – is my son call yet? Did he come back?”

“Not yet,” Demo replied, opening one of the cabinets to look for the first aid kit. "But don't worry, Misha's a good old lad, and I'm sure he'll be back soon..." somewhat irritated, he screwed up his mouth and opened the second cabinet. “Bloody– I could’ve sworn Medic put a first aid kit in here!”

“What is wrong?” Sonya asked, but it was then she noticed Lar-Nah standing there, her nose still bloody. Sonya gasped, closing the fridge and hurrying over to her. “Oh!”

“I’m fine, it’s not broken,” Lar-Nah tried to assure, but Sonya quickly pulled up a chair and had her sit down.

Just then, Spy’s voice came on over the intercom: “We’re having a team meeting! Please come down to the meeting room if you are available, we will begin within the next ten minutes.”

Demoman squinted at the speakers next to the ceiling. “Hell, I forgot we had those!” he shook himself, heading for the doorway. “I’ll get on in there– should I tell everyone you’ll be coming soon?” He glanced over at the two women, watching as Sonya took it upon herself to tend to Lar-Nah.

“Um– yes, I’ll be there soon,” Lar-Nah replied. As soon as Demo left for the meeting hall, Lar-Nah turned her attention back to Sonya. “Look, you don’t need to do this…”

“I want to help,” Sonya insisted. She stood up, getting a wash cloth and soaking it under warm water. Once that was done, she returned to Lar-Nah’s side, pressing the warm, damp cloth against her nose.

They sat in silence for a moment, before Lar-Nah spoke quietly. “Thank you.”

“My son tell me about you,” Sonya spoke up suddenly. “About who you are, and what you did.”

Lar-Nah could only murmur "...oh.” She drew her lips into her mouth, allowing Sonya to tilt her chin up as she swept the blood away.

Sonya hummed, carefully checking the bridge of the other woman’s nose to make sure it was indeed not broken. “Yes. But do not worry,” she pulled her hand away, setting the wash cloth down onto the table beside them. “I do not judge you. I am proud of you for choosing to live and to help him and this team. You should know this, if no one tells you it.”

There was a long pause. After a few seconds, Lar-Nah grasped Sonya’s large hand in her smaller one and gave it a squeeze. “Thank you,” was all she managed to say, trying to sound composed despite the emotions she felt welling up.

Sonya smiled at her, squeezing her hand back. She cleaned the last bit of blood from Lar-Nah’s face, before getting up. “Go to the meeting, now, they are very busy probably…”

Lar-Nah nodded, getting up and turning to leave. "Yes - thank you once more," she paused just before heading towards the meeting room, wiping her eyes covertly.

In the meeting room, a discussion was already beginning. Medic, Heavy, and Engineer were still gone, but Yana and Bronislava continued to fill in for Zhanna.

“So,” Spy took a long breath. “Let’s go over what we know so far: Bea is still out there, and there’s a possibility she and the pathetic fake mayor of this town are going to continue on with Zelda’s plan,”

Scout scoffed. “Yeah, well, he’s too stupid to even do anything! I guess the ol’ lady’s not, but–”

Spy cut him off. “He may be stupid, but he is also an influential member of this town. The people here don’t know who he really is – they think he’s their beloved mayor Bill Waters, not Bill-Bel. All they talk about is the new clock tower he's building, which will bring more jobs and some recognition to the community. To them, he’s their savior, and if we publicly go after him again, he could turn them against us,”

“They already attacked us once,” Demo pointed out. “And we all got away! We can do it again, right?”

“I don’t know…” Spy sighed. “Things seem very different here than they once were. However, it doesn't mean we won't pursue him and Bea. We only need to figure out where Bea is, though I doubt she's moved very far.”

Just then, a loud wheezing noise could be heard in the room. Confused, Spy glanced over, seeing Pyro coughing and wheezing loudly through their mask.

"Oh – Pyro, could you kindly step out for a moment?" Spy made a shooing motion with his hand to avoid looking disgusted by the noisy coughing.

Pyro got up and shuffled out of the room. Scout watched them go, a concerned look on his face, before he stood up as well. “I’m gonna make sure they’re okay,” he informed everyone, before following after his teammate.

The door closed, and Spy sighed. “All right…anyway, where were we?”

Soldier put up his hand. “I have an idea!”

Spy winced. “Urgh…all right, Soldier, what is it?”

Soldier proudly marched up to the front of the room, carrying a piece of paper in his hand. He slammed it down near the desk where Spy was standing, and then puffed out his chest proudly. “I found this outside!”

Spy raised an eyebrow, picking up the paper and skimming the writing. After a good few moments, his eyes widened, and he smiled. “Oh…I see…how interesting…”

“What? What is it?” Sniper wanted to know, curious.

“It would seem,” Spy began. “That there is an opening day party for the new clock tower today. First is a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and then after that is a party. According to this newsletter, Mayor Bill Waters will be attending both events.”

“Ohh!” Demoman exclaimed, eye going wide with excitement. “Are you suggesting we crash this party?”

“Yes,” Spy confirmed. “We are going to infiltrate this event – of course, it all must be done without being seen by the public. I will help with disguises, and we shall be off!”

As everyone began to prepare for the mission, the room quickly became vibrant with talk. Scout and Pyro soon returned to the room, though they were quickly filled in on what was going on. Just then, Miss Pauling stepped in, bag in hand as she looked around the room.

“What’s going on? I just got here,” she set the bag down onto one of the chairs. “Helen said she’s gonna be here later, what did you all decide to do?”

Spy walked up to her, putting the pamphlet into her hand. “We’ve decided to crash a party. Do not worry, I am already devising a plan as we speak. If it goes off with out a hitch, we can handle everything privately,”

Pauling smiled a little, putting the pamphlet into her bag. “Great! Well, I’ll help you out with that, if that’s okay. We’re gonna settle this once and for all!”

Meanwhile, in Teufort, things were just as busy. To start getting ready for the event, several local residents gathered around the clock tower. The town hall was also rather busy that day, and Bea had to weed around several people to get into the building.

“Excuse me,” she called out to the woman at the front desk, getting her attention. “I need to speak to Mayor Waters. Is he here?”

The woman nodded. “Yes, he’s in his office getting ready for the event today. Do you have an appointment?”

“Listen,” Bea leaned in close to the woman, trying to remain composed. “I need to talk to him, it’s very important!”

“Sorry,” the woman sighed, going back to her paperwork. “If you don’t have an appointment, you can’t see him.”

Bea stood there, her face twitching for a moment. Finally, she turned and walked into the adjacent bathroom and shut the door behind her. Moments later, she came running back out, exclaiming, “Hey, someone started a fire in the trash can in there!”

The woman jolted, leaping from her seat and grabbing the fire extinguisher from next to her desk. “Oh, god, not again!”

As the woman took time to put out the fire in the bathroom, Bea took the opportunity to sneak up the stairs. She quickly located the Mayor’s office and knocked on the door a few times. “Mr. Waters! Are you in?”

She got a garbled, barely audible reply. “Who’s there?”

“It’s me, just let me in!” Bea insisted. There was no response, and Bea raised her voice slightly. “Bill-Bel, I swear to God, if you don’t open this door I’m coming in there!”

“It’s locked,” came the reply, a little louder this time. “I’m busy, leave me alone!”

Suddenly, there was a loud clicking sound, and the door burst open. Bill-Bel’s snapped up from where he’d been laying it on the desk, just in time to see Bea standing there. Bea was holding a lockpick, and she looked furious.

“I told you, I’m busy!” Bill-Bel snapped at her, attempting to sound intimidating despite his lack of sleep.

“Yeah, well, this is important!” She slammed the door behind her, walking up to the desk and putting her hands on it. “Zelda is missing!”

Bill-Bel blinked slowly, taking this in. “…missing?”

“Yes, missing!” Bea snapped at him. “I last saw her in the herbal supply store, and when I returned, there were cops around, and the place had been wrecked! Those mercenaries must have got her, and I’m tired of this game of cat and mouse! You need to join me in finding my sister since you've been sitting here doing god-knows-what for the stupid people in this town all this time! Zelda brought you here and gave you everything so you would work for her, and you need to do that!”

There was a long pause. After a moment, Bill-Bel dropped his head back onto the desk and made a pathetic whining sound. “I can’t!”

“Get up— get the hell up!” Bea picked him up by the scruff of his jacket so she could look at him. “Why can’t you!?”

"Because I have to do it," Bill-Bel whispered, peering directly into her eyes in a way that made her uncomfortable. Bea let him drop back into the chair, taking a step back.

“Do what?” She asked, brow furrowing.

“Suppose she’s dead,” Bill-Bel began. “I have to…summon the…thing…”

Bea blinked a few times, letting this sink in. “You mean…The Corrupt? She’s not dead! Besides, I don’t trust you to summon something this powerful!”

“Well, then, what do you want me to do!?” Bill-Bel suddenly shouted at her. “I can’t think, I haven’t slept in…” he squinted, trying to think, before shaking his head. "I haven't slept in a long time, I have a speech to give soon and then a party to attend, what makes you think I have time to—?"

“Listen!” Bea snapped again, startling him back into his seat. “This is more important! You agreed to help my sister in exchange for this new life of yours, now fulfill your end of the bargain and help me!”

Bill-Bel said nothing for a long moment. Finally, he spoke: “My mother saw my future and she didn’t like what she saw.”

Bea stared at him for a moment, her anger dissipating for just a moment. “What am I saying?” She sighed finally, exasperated. “You’re not in any condition to help me, anyway, your brain is scrambled.” She reached into her bag, pulling out a pill bottle and shaking a few pills out. “Here — I have caffeine pills. Take a few of these and get through your day, and then at the end of the day..." She took out another bottle of pills and gave him some of those as well.“Take these sleeping pills so you’re not like this. When you wake up, come straight to me and we’ll find out where those bastards are keeping my sister! Got it?”

"Which one is the caffeine pill and which one is the sleeping tablet?" Bill-Bel asked, squinting at the pills.

Bea rolled her eyes, walking to a water cooler in the corner of the room and getting a cup of water ready. She handed him the water cup and pushed the caffeine pills towards him, saying, "Here, take the caffeine pills now and put the sleeping pills in your pocket for later."

The phone beside Bill-Bel rang as he swallowed the caffeine pills and then placed the sleeping pills in his coat pocket. He cleared his throat and picked up the receiver, answering, “Hello? Yes? Yes, I have my speech prepared, I’ll be right there. All right, thank you.”

He stood up, heading for the door. The phone suddenly rang again, forcing him to pause and sigh loudly. “I…can you get that? It might be my wife…I really need to go…”

Bea huffed, but complied. “Sure, whatever,” as soon as Bill-Bel was gone, she picked up the receiver. “Hello?”

“Greetings,” a strange voice replied. “Is Mr. Bill Waters available?”

“He just left, sorry,” Bea answered, preparing to hang up. “This is his…assistant. Can I take a message?”

“Of course,” the man agreed. "Tell him I'm here to look into some unusual events that an anonymous source reported to my agency,"

Bea paused. “…agency? Who is this?”

“You may call me Lazarus,” the man went on. “My agency was initially contacted regarding a situation in a Teufort park, and we were contacted again regarding an occurrence in a local herbal shop. We have reason to believe that the two are connected.”

Bea stopped, taking this in. After a moment, she responded, “Bill Waters is busy at a ceremony today, but I can meet you. I’ve been investigating this myself. What agency do you work for?”

“That isn’t important,” Lazarus assured her. “Just know that we deal with demons and paranormal happenings. May I ask what your name is?”

“Just call me Beatrice,” Bea said, though she hated using her actual name for anything. “And I think you and I might be looking for the same group of people…”

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