"Hi Shaya, what's up?"

"Ahm… ah, 'hello'."

…

Well, this is something we didn't anticipate, but in hindsight we absolutely should have. Speaking via body language doesn't translate well over an audio-only connection… we'll have to find a better way I guess.

Another awkward minute of barely communicating later, we end our u-comm call.

A very awkward minute.

I'm going to bother mom about that later. Maybe she knows a trick for it or something, she's a forest elf right? There must have been someone back at the colony she wanted to keep in touch with…

You know what, I'll just ask her.

I open another u-comm call, just in case she's wearing her headset… she usually doesn't, but if I'm not mistaken it'll still buzz or something…

After a few tries, she finally answers.

"Oh, hi there sweetheart. Can it wait a few more minutes? I'm almost there."

"Eh? Wait, you're coming here?"

She sighs over the connection. "Yes, Sadie, I'm coming there. I want to see how you're settling in, plus I'd really like to see what they've done with the dorms since I've been there. I'm sure a lot has changed."

"Oh. Okay, I'll be here."

I tell her my room number and we end the conversation. There's not much point in talking longer like that if she's just going to be here shortly anyway.

…Ah.

"Hey Lyra," I start, but her flinch at my words makes me pause.

…

"Wh-what? What is it?" she finally answers.

Resisting the urge to sigh I continue, "My mom is coming by to visit, I hope that's alright."

A brief look of horror crosses her face before she nods repeatedly. "Sure. Sure, uh, whatever you want, um. Miss h-hero?"

And now the sigh escapes, which she interprets as me taking offense… so of course my next few minutes are spent trying and failing to dissuade her from it before there's a knock at the door.

"Well that was fast," I start a I open the door, but I pause when I see it's someone other than my mother. "Uh. Who are you?"

The tall furry man looks down at me and smiles, showing rows of jagged teeth not too unlike my own. "Hello, Hero of Malice. I'm here to join your party. You need a tank, right? You definitely don't look like a tank."

"I am the tank," I reply flatly while pointing over my shoulder with my thumb at the shield laid across my desk. "Why would I need a second one? And wait, why do you think I'm forming a party? I just got here!"

The wolfish man smiles deeper. "Because you're small, and that means you probably can't take a hit. Don't think that no one notices your main weapon is a ranged sidearm either… you can't even parry an attack with it. You need me."

"No, I don't. Fuck off before I show you exactly what a ranged sidearm can do at point blank," I snap before I can catch myself.

But oddly enough he just puts a hand to his chin and nods in satisfaction. "Yes, you'll do. You'll do nicely. That's what she said, anyway. My name is Joy, and yes, you need me. Even if you refuse me, I'll be waiting. I have to."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"No, you don't!" I snap again, hand drifting toward Covetous Wanderer, which I still can't leave anywhere not on my person. Well, other than handing it to people so they can look at it… if they try to fire it or anything it just reappears in my hand…

Joy visibly deflates. "Yes, I do. I have to. Mother would be very upset if I didn't, she said I had to get stronger, and to help you get stronger."

…

…

I take a moment to strain against my growing anger, this violent urge I still haven't gotten a handle on. Gods, why the hells did the demon empress have to dump this on me now?

"In all seriousness," I finally say after another breath, "why should I? Party with you, I mean? And why do I care about what your mother thinks?"

"Because she's your patron," he says matter-of-factly.

…

"Oh. So you're a collar."

He shrugs.

"Am I interrupting something?"

I jump. I didn't even notice her get here!

"No! No, mom! You're not interrupting anything! In fact, Joy was just leaving. Weren't you, Joy?"

The big man sighs. "Alright, sure. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Hopefully not," I dismiss as I pull my mother into my room and slam the door in his face with a snort. Good riddance! I don't even care if he's related to that horror or whatever. He's not my problem.

I don't even care that he's higher leveled than me.

Meanwhile mom just snickers with a hand over her mouth. I sigh and wave her off, gesturing at the two chairs.

"I have to admit, they don't look like they've changed at all. Oh, and hello miss roommate! I'm Carmina, Sadie's mom. How are you?"

She'd apparently noticed the worried eyes peeking from the bottom bunk, mostly hidden behind a pillow.

…

"I'm not going to bite, you know. I'm not a monster or anything, just a normal ascendant."

Lyra doesn't relax at all. "I d-don't believe you. Not if you're related t-to an evil h-hero."

Mom's eyes shoot open before her glance slowly drifts back toward me. "Sadie?"

"Oh, haha so, some things happened and uh."

A silence stretches for a moment before it sets in that I can't just let this sit. Ugh, fine.

"Ugh, fine."

Olive snorts in a way that almost seems to imply this is something familiar to her, but I carry on anyway.

"So apparently I'm already the hero of malevolence, and the batshit banana bonkers demon empress her hells-damned self is my patron. No, I didn't agree to any of it, and apparently she's also Nyx – or at least masquerading as her."

After a minute of her imitating a fish and me ushering her onto my chair she finally says, "I see."

"Yeah. It's weird. It's really weird. And I keep… um. She talked to me. Oh, we had an assembly where she did a bunch of scary stuff, apparently she knows the headmaster here somehow. And is gonna be teaching us things I'm not allowed to talk about because of some geas. Anyway! She said she gave me 'malevolence' because she wanted to see me struggle somehow I think? And ever since then I keep getting angry, or wanting to hurt people… I don't like it, mom. I really don't like it, but what am I supposed to do? She's a god, mom. She's an actual god, and I'm nobody. How am I supposed to say no?"

It takes me a moment to register that I'm crying at the end. Mom leans over to pull me into a hug, and I let her.

"I'm not even sure what she wants me to do," I mumble into her shirt. "And I don't want to hurt people. Why do I want to kill people?"

"Oh, sweetie…"

I gradually relax as she brushes the fingers of one hand through my hair, and after a few moments I wipe the tears from my eyes and drop back onto Lyra's chair. I'm sure she won't mind me using it… she sure isn't right now.

Mom still looks shaken, but I can tell she's trying to hide it. Probably for my sake, knowing her.

"How… is everything else then, Sadie? How are you adjusting?"

"It's, um… it's been easier than adjusting to the colony, or was until everyone found out I was an evil hero or whatever. And when I found out too… oh, and Shaya called but I don't know how we're supposed to talk if I can't see her, and she refuses to actually say anything without it. Why do forest elves do that? Is it some kind of religious thing or something?"

My mother blinks in surprise for a moment before stifling a grin.

"What?"

"You really don't know, do you? Tell you what, why don't you call her again and put her on open?"

I sigh but do as she says. Shaya answers immediately.

"Sadie?" she says in surprise with a bit of… something in her voice. I'm pretty sure she's happy to hear from me, which is good! She's my friend, it'd suck if she didn't want to hear from me, though I'd feel kind of bad if she was in the middle of something…

I immediately put the call on open so mom can hear her, and as a side effect so can my roommate. But that's fine.

Then mom starts saying a bunch of stuff I don't understand, and Shaya immediately answers.

…

After a moment of them chattering like that, mom stifling a laugh and my friend snapping something annoyedly back, we end the call with a simple goodbye.

And then mom stares at me, continuing to chuckle to herself at my expense.

"No, seriously. What!?"

"You really didn't know, and you don't even know how hilarious that is."

I glare until she finally elaborates. Why does she always do this? I don't need dramatic anything, just get to the point already!

Mom takes a breath and centers herself as though about to give serious news…

"Sweetie… your friend doesn't speak interplanar common. Most forest elves don't, they never bother learning it because they never leave the colony."

…

…

"Oh."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.