Sending Eena off was… Well, it wasn’t exactly harder than I let on, but it was definitely a lot more difficult than I’d thought it would be. I really did want her to have a nice dinner with this aunt of hers, but I also really wanted answers to my own questions… Answers about whether Mom really had kept such big secrets from me and, if so, why? I didn’t regret my decision to send her off first, though! I just wished I’d been more keenly aware of my own feelings so that I could’ve talked through them with Eena before she left.

That dissatisfaction is probably why I was more happy than surprised when Eena showed up a lot sooner than I’d expected. I’d just finished cooking up some soup for dinner. It wasn’t much - conjured water, dried meat, vegetables, and a little bit of spice, all cooked in a makeshift pot of magically hardened earth with a magical fire. It was the sort of thing I always used to eat on journeys before Eena started spoiling me with all sorts of fancy food from the tower. 

“Eena? You’re back for me already?” I asked with a smile.

Eena didn’t smile back. She just stared at the pot for a long moment before finally speaking. “Is… is that what you were planning to eat while the rest of us enjoyed our meal?!”

“Yep!” I confirmed while giving Eena a reassuring smile. “It’s a bit plain, but it’s also really warm and filling!”

“And to think I was going to be eating a decadent meal while you were - Why didn’t you tell me your food stores were so limited?! I would have offered you something from my bag before I left!”

“Eena…” I said with the same smile still on my face. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but… I’m not that picky about food.”

“...?” Eena didn’t respond, just staring at me with wide eyes.

“I mean, I do like eating!” I hurried to assure her. “Good food really tastes good! But I’m also really lucky when it comes to food! I can afford anything I want at the street stalls when I’m in a town or city, and I get served luxurious dinners when I’m being hosted by nobility or one of the bigger churches! I’ve eaten things most people will never even get to taste once in their lives… So I think it’s okay to eat simpler food now and again! It helps remind me that not everyone can afford the stuff I usually eat!”

“But… You… It’s…!” Eena faltered before shaking her head. “No! I refuse! I am the Demon Queen! No beloved of mine is going to be subsisting on subpar sustenance while I feast at my tower! You will be eating dinner with the rest of us even if I have to spirit you away to make it happen!”

“Well… It’s not like I mind eating good food,” I admitted, blushing faintly, “but what happened to eating with your aunt before coming to get me?”

“She didn’t even give us time to pick up our utensils before questioning my ulterior motivations,” Eena told me with a sigh. “I’m pretty sure she hates me. Honestly though, the feeling’s getting fairly close to mutual. I have little to say to a woman who’d abandon her niece, only to insult her at every turn when they finally meet. Even if she was blackmailed into staying away from me during my childhood…”

“She was blackmailed?” I asked with wide eyes. “That doesn’t sound good… Who did it?”

“Alira, a woman I fired many years ago. One of the ringleaders behind keeping me isolated as a child, if Nivera is to be believed. The better to hold power over me, I suppose? It obviously backfired, if so. I blamed her for the separation between me and Nivera, you see, so I was very… harsh when I kicked her out - or rather, when I threw her down the stairs… Regardless of her original motivations or actions, I must admit that her desire for revenge on me is at least a little bit justified. Not only did I treat her roughly, but I even stripped her family of all political power. A choice that nearly led to the other Bloodlines revolting…”

That…sounded pretty bad, but I was willing to bet it was a lot more complicated than Eena wanted to admit! She always tried to paint herself in the worst possible light, after all. Like everything was always her fault. 

She was stuck in another negative thought spiral from the looks of it. Probably finding whole new ways to blame herself… That’s why, rather than directly responding or asking more questions, I just stepped forward and pulled Eena into a hug. She seemed a little surprised, at first, stiffening up in my arms, but then she melted, wrapping her arms back around me. 

It was warm. Not literally - I mean, I couldn’t really feel it because of all the armor I was wearing! On the inside, though, it warmed my heart to be holding someone I loved like this. To reassure someone I cared about. Someone who cared about me…

“Yes, well,” Devilla murmured after a moment before reluctantly pulling away from me. “We’re meant to be going to dinner, yes? I’m sure you also have many questions for my aunt. She’s already confirmed that my dam found and rescued a human soldier, by the name of Brielle. Apparently, my mother roped said dam into marriage with promises of me somehow ending the war, so my dam decided to do her own small part to help work towards peace by rescuing one of your parents…”

“You’re sure it was my mother?” I asked, leaning forward a little bit. Mom used to talk about my… I guess demons called them dams? Mom talked about my dam sometimes. I knew she’d been a church guard and a soldier in the war against demons. That she’d been really strong and kind… that she loved to laugh and that she made my mother smile a lot. Lots of little things like that. But I’d never really known her in the way I knew Mom. So the chance to learn more… I was kind of excited!

“Fairly certain, at least,” Eena confirmed. “She apparently had a plan to name her daughter after Luci - that is, after my ancestor. Considering the single letter separating your names, it’s hard to believe my aunt could have been talking about anyone else.”

“Well, I’d love to learn more,” I admitted. “As long as you’re sure about bringing me?”

“Trust me when I say that there’s no heartwarming reunion, or even friendly meeting, at risk of being interrupted. So far all my aunt’s done is continuously insult my mother and complain about the supposed lies that led to my birth. If she has any fondness for her niece hidden in that heart of hers, it is buried extremely deep.”

“Well, if you’re sure… I can’t say that I’m not kind of excited!” I confessed. “Maybe a little worried, too? I never thought I’d be learning about my other mother like this…”

“Welcome to the club,” Eena replied, holding out her hand for me to take. “It’s been one unexpected thing after another ever since I messed up the Rite of Insight. Did I ever tell you that I was actually on a mission to gather salt when I first ran into you? I’m not sure what was more shocking - coming face to face with the Heroine I feared, accidentally seducing her, or discovering potatoes of all things in a tiny village I’d stumbled across.”

“Um… Eena, one of those things seems pretty different from the others,” I pointed out while taking her hand.

“Yes, well, I suppose perhaps intercourse should have been expected, considering our mutual lack of sexual inhibitions, but still. It was quite a shock to me at the time when you were so eager to go along with it…”

“That’s not what I meant!” I protested, allowing Eena to lead me towards her teleportation circle.

“What, the potatoes?” she asked. “Please. If you think their discovery was anything less than life-altering, then you are severely underestimating the versatility of tastes they can offer! In fact, my sister’s already figured out the wonders of thrice baking them as you’ll see tonight.”

“Eena!” I laughed with a broad smile on my face. Even though I was a little worried about meeting with Devilla’s aunt and hearing about my family, I couldn’t help but think that as long as I had Eena by my side everything would work out fine. “Oh right - Eena, what was that earlier about a ‘beloved?’”

“I don’t suppose you’d be willing to ignore words spoken in the heat of the moment?” she replied with a bright blush on her face. “Not that I have any intention of taking them back…”

I giggled and hugged Eena’s arm against myself as we continued on to the teleportation circle. Yes, so long as I had Eena by my side, I was sure we could handle any hurdle that came our way. Together!

It was only upon returning to the dining room that I noticed a grievous oversight - namely that there were only enough pork chops and potatoes prepared for the expected number of guests, leaving poor Lucy with nothing to eat. Of course, I could settle that easily by giving her half of mine, but still… It was something to consider if I ever chose to crash another meal with Lucy.

“So this is the girl?” Marlene asked, her low tone dragging me back to arguably more important matters. “Brielle’s daughter?”

“That was one of my moms’ names,” Lucy confirmed with a nod. “I don’t really know if she was the same woman you’re talking about, though… Mom - the mom who raised me, I mean - never told me about any of this stuff…”

“She didn’t?” Marlene asked with an arched eyebrow. “And yet you somehow find yourself at the tower anyway?”

“Well, that’s because I’m-”

“I discovered her,” I interrupted, making a mental note to apologize to Lucy for the interjection. “In fact, we’re dating… Quite the coincidence, I must admit, if what you say about her parentage is true.”

“You’re dating… a human?!” my aunt asked me with a mixture of horror and shock.

“More than that,” I continued, sparing a glance for Lucy. She gave me an encouraging smile, no doubt predicting what I wanted to say. The very thing I’d kept her from admitting, a moment prior - but timing was everything, and saying that she’d come to the tower purely because of this would have given the wrong impression. “I’m dating the Heroine.”

For a moment the table tensed. Marlene stared at me with wide eyes, while Nivera’s gaze flicked between us, even as the tip of her tail curled and uncurled in anxiety. A tic she’d had since childhood. Abigail, meanwhile, had her eyes closed, but I could practically see the vein throbbing in her forehead. She was probably screaming on the inside, thinking me nearly as bad as Lucy for my tactlessness. I didn’t even want to think about the lecture that was undoubtedly in store for me.

At least Chloe seemed amused.

Then Marlene laughed, loud and long. “By the Fallen… the angels above must have a truly twisted sense of humor if they chose her. They must absolutely loathe your family more than anything if they’d pick a girl who only exists because of your parents’ actions…”

“And what, precisely, would those actions have been?” I questioned, noting the frown on Lucy’s face. I was sure she had her own interpretation on matters and that we’d be hearing it shortly. For now, however, I was more interested in what my aunt had to say. “I know that you said my dam saved a human and brought her to a cave - but surely there’s more to the story than that, yes?”

“Oh yes,” Marlene confirmed, grabbing her bottle of wine and taking what was - by comparison to her previous binge drinking, at least - a reserved sip. “Lots more… Like the fact that said human’s wife came to the frontlines looking for her.”

“Mom did?” Lucy asked with a look of surprise.

“Aye,” Marlene confirmed with a nod “assuming you’re who my niece claims you are. It was a priestess by the name of Olivia. She came searching for her wife who’d gone missing in action, and one thing led to another, and well… I don’t really know the specifics myself, but next thing I knew Issa was telling me there were two of them. Which is when things really started going to shit.”

“What do you mean?” I questioned her, leaning forward across the table. “Is that how they got caught by Alira?”

“Maybe,” Marlene said, shrugging. “Don’t really know about the timing of that. But once there were two of them… Well, Issa was already struggling to figure out how to send back one missing soldier without attracting attention, so you can imagine the headache it gave her when there were two. It wasn’t like they could just head back to human lands, no questions asked, you know? People would want to know where they’d been. How they’d escaped detection by demons. How they’d gotten back… That’s why Issa had the bright idea to ask your mother for help.”

“My mother?” I asked, blinking from surprise. “Mother helped with this, as well?”

“That she did,” Marlene confirmed, taking another - much longer - swig of wine. “She and that General Doll of hers. They hatched the idea of putting their two guests together with a bunch of prisoners of war and allowing an escape attempt, letting them go back to their lands alongside a couple unimportant prisoners of war… And it worked, too - for a certain definition of it, anyways. I don’t think it was worth the cost though…”

“What was the cost?” Lucy asked, trepidation obvious in her tone.

“Aunt Issa.” Surprisingly it wasn’t Marlene who answered , but Chloe. “She, along with a bunch of other soldiers, died when the Heroine attacked the prison camp they were at….”

Marlene didn’t say a word. She just grabbed her wine bottle and emptied it before slamming it back down on the table.

“So that’s what happened…” I murmured. “But why didn’t Lucy’s mother ever tell her about it?”

“Olivia was never sold on everything,” Marlene muttered after a moment. “Not as much as Brielle, at least. Maybe she wasn’t sure of what to say, or something.” She shrugged. “No clue. You’d have to ask Doll if you wanted to know more. She was actually in on it, at least. I just sat back and worried about my crazy human sympathizing sister and hoped for the best…”

“Doll did seem to think we’d have questions for her at some point,” I recalled, thinking back to her cryptic words the other day. “Perhaps it’s time we went to her for that conversation?”

“That might be hard,” Nivera said with a sigh. “She’s on vacation.”

“...Vacation?” Abigail asked. “What do you mean vacation? As in time off? Because I’m pretty sure this is big enough to warrant an interruption!”

“If she was taking time off I'd have said that,” Nivera replied, crossing her arms. “She’s on vacation. You know, as in, off who knows where, doing who knows what?”

“You mean she left the tower?” I questioned, hardly able to believe my ears. “Where could she have gone? Across the wasteland into human lands?”

“Maybe? Probably not, but… who knows? She’s just gone. Left a lot of careful notes for her assistants to run things in her absence, but didn’t even say when she’d be back…”

“Great…” I muttered, groaning. “So we have no way of tracking her?”

“I wouldn’t say no way,” Chloe chimed in between bites of food. She’d grabbed a potato and pork chop from the center plates at some point, and seemed to have consumed half of each already. “There’s one person in this tower who’s basically aware of everything, right? Even if Doll really has left the tower, she’ll probably be able to point us in the right direction.”

“You mean Sylvanna?” Abigail asked with a grimace before shaking her head. “Hell no! No way. You don’t know what she’s like to Devilla.”

“ Like hell I don’t,” Nivera replied with a scowl. “Do you think I haven’t been keeping tabs on my sister all these years? I know exactly how much of a bitch Sylvanna has been, and I agree with you - Devilla shouldn’t have to deal with her crap. I’ll ask.”

“Wait,” Lucy interrupted, holding up a hand. “Isn’t Sylvanna the slime lady Devilla promised to help? What’s wrong with her? Devilla said they don’t get along and that she did something very bad to Sylvanna when she was younger, but she never really went into details beyond that.”

“She used unpetrifying the slimes as a ransom over Sylvanna’s head, to force her into her current position,” Abigail informed Lucy before I could say anything. “When she was seven. Sylvanna’s taken that as an excuse to abuse her at every possible chance she gets ever since.”

“I would hardly call her anger at me abuse,” I protested. “She simply has… well deserved ire towards me.”

“Nobody deserves the sort of stuff she’s said to you, sis,” Nivera argued, curling up the tip of her tail. “She’s done everything from insulting your intelligence to outright blaming you for your mom’s death. You don’t need to go back into her crosshairs for more abuse.”

“Well, I still need to report how I’m doing with the depetrification progress,” I pointed out. My voice sounded weak even to my own ears, though. 

“I’ll handle it,” Abigail promised. “Like I told you I would last time she came up.”

“But this is different! It’s about Lucy’s parents! Surely it’s worth me facing her for that, right?”

“No, it isn’t,” Lucy said firmly. “I mean, I’m not really sure of all the details, but if what they’re saying is true then she’s basically been abusing you since childhood, right? I don’t want you to needlessly face more abuse just to help me learn more! Especially not when someone else could do it.”

“...Fine,” I conceded after a moment. “But if she insists upon seeing me to finish things-”

“You can burn that bridge when you come to it,” Nivera said. “And maybe throw her into the canyon while you’re at it so that you never have to see her again. For now, though, you’re going to eat the food I cooked like a good girl and get to know your fucking family. Alright?”

“...Alright…” I nodded, cheeks red.

Lucy giggled, reaching out to take my hand and give it a squeeze. It helped me manage a smile, even as I began to load up my plate with potatoes and pork chops for the two of us. We’d likely have to split the potato in half, at the very least, as extras hadn’t been made - but I was sure that seeing Lucy’s delightful reactions to the food would make it worthwhile.

Of course, the dinner wasn’t all fun and games, from that point forward. Marlene began to speak at some point, again, earning herself glares from me and Nivera alike. Abigail drank what felt like a little too much wine, though she still didn’t seem drunk to my eyes. Nivera struggled to relax, muttering about Sylvanna, glaring at Marlene, and only managing to eat because Chloe literally spoon fed her. How she even managed to serve pork chops via spoon, I have no idea…

Yet, through it all, Lucy maintained her smile, finding delight in the wonderful cooking and dragging people into conversations about all sorts of mundane topics, all with a sparkle in her eye.

I didn’t know how long this cheerful girl would allow me to stand by her side, but… so long as she did? I couldn’t help but feel as if the two of us could take on anything.

~~~

Author's Notes

Happy New Year! Depression was still super bad when I wrote the first version of this chapter... I think it came out pretty well, all the same, though? And FallingLeaf's editing (because it really has gone beyond just proofreading at this point) has really helped it shine!

Tune in next time for a long overdue conversation between Lucy and Abigail! Or, if you're feeling antsy, you can check out the rough drafts for chapter 58 and 59 right now, over on my Patreon~!

Either way, thanks for reading!

PS: As there's been some confusion, I think it's worth clarifying that Olivia is Lucy's mom/the one who raised her, while 'Brielle' would be considered her dam in demon terms.