Chapter 63: Ch. 62 – Roses for Kyros

Momo had grown up with one single pet – Luna, the infamously lazy calico. She had been Momo’s pride and joy on Earth, and keeping her alive was quite often Momo’s only reason for getting up in the morning. Still, taking care of a single living animal had been enough work for the whole family: vet visits, grooming, nail cutting, kibble purchasing. Cat therapy, for when Luna went through a spell of depression.

Now, Momo strode out of the Vaults accompanied by six wolves, one undead cat, a talking bauble, and two (allegedly) human women. Not to mention Biscuit, who was toiling away as always.

She felt like an overworked mother.

“I need to offload some responsibility,” she sighed. “Dusk, you’re in charge of the dogs.”

She knew she could just [Unsummon] them, but she figured it was better to keep them around – should things go awry back in Sera’s Judgement Room.

As expected, Dusk easily obliged, meowing happily. With Big Bird at home, the cat had been yearning for another attempt at managerial work. Being Momo’s sidekick wasn’t really her thing – she was more of a main character sort of feline. Momo didn’t mind that. In fact, she embraced it. She was happy for the cat to take the spotlight while she snuck around on the sidelines.

“Where did that meow come from?” Vivienne said, snapping her head back and forth in fear. Nia laughed.

“Oh, you haven’t noticed Momo’s little helper?”

Momo’s eyebrows shot up. “And you have?” She swore that Dusk had evaded Nia’s notice so far. Sure, she talked out loud to the cat sometimes – but she assumed that people would just think she was insane, not conversing with an invisible, undead animal.

“Duh. The thing was chasing around half of the rat population down in the sewers. You were just too in your own head to realize it,” Nia snorted. “My [Shadow Eyes] ability allows me to clearly see the outlines of invisible things, so following that cat around was no problem.”

Momo’s mouth formed a circle, impressed. “You have your own built-in [Cheese Vision]?”

Nia’s smile fell. “You could call it that, but I wouldn’t.”

“Cats freak me out,” Vivienne glowered.

“Everything freaks you out,” Nia rolled her eyes.

“That’s not true,” she turned her nose up. “Dogs are fine. These ones are a little.. terrifying, for my taste,” she eyed the pack of Nether wolves obediently being led by Dusk, “but they’re still canine enough.”

Momo remembered the Holy Wolf Vivienne sent for her in the vents, and grimaced. She didn’t want to envision a puppy playdate between their respective packs.

As they walked back towards the Judgment Room, it occurred to Momo that she hadn’t taken the time to formulate a plan. Sure, she had [Nether Immunity] as her final, should-everything-go-wrong defense, but it was just that – a last defense. She’d need to do a lot more than block a few attacks if she was going to free the Con Artists, somehow evade Sera, and outrun Nia and Vivienne, if they decided to join in on the beating.

She groaned internally. She could just take the money and run. She was sure the Con Artists would find a way out of this on their own – that was their whole gig, anyway. She frowned. But Radu is my only non-Valerica friend. Call Momo many things, but she was as loyal as an obedient dog to anyone who didn’t spit on her.

“Oh my,” Nia said with a surprised laugh, stopping at the foot of the Judgment Room door. “She sure knows how to redecorate.”

Momo looked up. Oh my god.

To Vivienne’s grave annoyance, Sera had chosen a few knights to become her new furniture.

“I told them I’d prevent this from happening,” Vivienne gritted her teeth. “How are we supposed to create trust with the civilian population if Sera insists on turning them into plant vases?”

“Oh, Vivienne. Knights aren’t civilians,” Nia snickered. “I’m sure the average person in Nam’Dal would pay a fortune to see them hang like ivy.”

Vivienne glared at her. Momo continued gaping at the former knights – now mere skeletons in knight armor, their bodies posed in various positions with roses protruding from their mouths. Hanging just above the makeshift Romeos, a fit of graffiti was painted in that familiar Nether Black.

Roses For Kyros, the graffiti read.

And Momo thought Valerica had a vendetta against the guy. Not that Momo could entirely blame her. If she had been locked up for ten years by some god, she’d probably dedicate an art show to pissing him off.

Brushing past Momo, Nia pushed open the door to the Judgment Room. As the door creaked open, overwhelming dread turned Momo’s stomach. The Con Artists had been left there alone. If this is what she did with the knights, Momo could only imagine what their fate might have been…

“I think the lamp would look better over there,” Teddy said, a finger extending out from his cage. “Mm, yep. Much better.”

“Oh, yes, quite,” Sera said with a nod as Septim hastily moved the lamp from one corner of the room to another.

Momo gaped. She had nearly thrown up with worry over… this. Sera had turned the Con Artists into amateur [Interior Designers].

“Oh, you’re all back. Good. Vivienne, it’s been too long.” Sera smiled placidly. Despite sharing her murderous intensity, Sera did not share Valerica’s warm enthusiasm. Everything she said – even the nice, pleasant things – felt like a warm dish served cold. It only contributed to Momo’s growing anxiety.

“Likewise,” Vivienne smiled back, and then reached into her backpack to procure a number of artifacts. “We made a quick trip to the vaults. You’ve made great work of the place already, but I thought I could help hasten a few things.”

Momo had been too focused on her own item-choosing to notice Vivienne take anything. Momo expected to be jealous, but the items she pulled out seemed quite dull, bland – predominantly made of stone and wood, lacking sheen. Two were small ingredient bowls. One was a hand-carved, ritualistic dagger.

Seeing the tools collected together, Momo paused. It was giving a… sacrificial vibe, and given that no one had strung up a goat or a hare, Momo worried that it was of the human sacrifice variation. Momo’s breathing started coming faster. If Morgana had been attempting to warn her about a human sacrifice, she could have been a little more specific.

In fact, everyone in her life could benefit from being a little more specific.

As Vivienne and Sera caught up with a bit of mindless small talk, Momo quietly walked up to the Con Artist Cage. Swerving out of the way of Teddy, who was happy to ignore her in favor of ordering Septim around, she squatted down to where Radu sat, still looking pale and exhausted.

“Hi,” she said simply, unsure what else to say. The situation had left her a little speechless.

“Howdy do,” he greeted, tipping a non-existent hat. “How are you finding our new evil overlord?”

Momo frowned. “Don’t let her hear that.”

“Oh, I’m sure she’d take it as a compliment,” he laughed hoarsely.

“Probably.”

Silence passed between them for a minute.

“I think she’s going to try and kill me,” Momo whispered. “Or enslave me. Most likely both.”

“Seems probable, yes,” Radu nodded sarcastically. “Do you intend to do something about it?”

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Momo looked towards Sera. She was busy talking animatedly with the two sisters. Despite their collected appearances, Momo could tell that all three of them were happy to see each other.

She still hadn’t exactly determined their connection to Sera. All she knew was that they had known each other for a long time, and Vivienne and Nia clearly felt like they owed Sera something, or at least cared about her enough to devise an utterly insane plan to free her. A plan that was ten years in the making.

Momo couldn’t imagine committing herself to something for even a year, no less a decade.

“I was planning on just leaving,” Momo shrugged. “But then I had the unfortunate realization that I didn’t want you to die. It would keep me up at night – and you know how I feel about my sleep.”

“I’m honored,” he sighed, but cracked a smile. “How do you plan to get me out of here?”

“Can’t you pick the lock on the cage?”

“Oh, most genius Ripper, thank you for the suggestion. I hadn’t thought of that.”

Momo glared at him.

“No, I can’t pick the lock. It’s a magical seal, and none of us are high enough of a level to break it. Vivienne’s magic.”

Momo hummed. That was indeed… troublesome.

“Do you have any idea what they intend to do with you all? If they haven’t killed you yet, that’s at least a good sign.”

“It is helpful, yes,” Radu said, wincing in pain as he moved his neck. “Nia did a number on us putting us in here, so clearly she didn’t want us intervening with their plans, but I don’t know…”

“Has anyone tried asking?”

“Asking? Like, asking the evil overlord if she plans to kill us or not?”

“Yeah, exactly,” Momo nodded. “They tend to like to tell you their schemes. It’s an ego thing.”

“No, we haven’t. Teddy’s been on a single-man mission to impress her through… decorating. He’s been moderately successful so far.”

“Well, I think you should ask,” Momo emphasized. “And I think I should stand in a far corner of the room while you do it, so I can make a run for it when she explains that she’s going to sacrifice me.”

“Sacrifice you?”

Momo pointed towards the embalming tools that Vivienne had laid out on the table in front of Sera. Since Momo last looked, several more knives had made it to the table. Flower petals and ivy, too. Radu made a face of realization, getting her point.

“You know what, fair enough,” Radu cleared his throat. “I’ll do it. But if things go sideways, I’ll need you to just blast this cage open, full force. You’re not leaving me here with the looney bin.”

Just as Momo was about to agree, she was yanked upwards. The collar of her robes nearly choked her as something pulled her up by the neck, levitating her high up above the cage. Her heart raced as she flailed mid air, trying helplessly to kick and squirm out of the invisible hold. Black smoke snaked around her body, keeping her in place.

“Scheming, are we? But that’s my job.”

Her eyes locked with Sera’s. The Necropriest’s hand was moving steadily upwards on par with the movement of Momo’s body, a smirk crawling up her lips.

Momo’s heart hammered in her chest. She’s got me.

Momo’s wolves began to amass just below her body, snarling and growling in Sera’s direction. A few of them jumped and snapped at the black fog surrounding their leader, but their jaws got ahold of nothing. The dark force that surrounded her was wet, moist, and smelled like death – like a putrid cloud holding her in its foggy fist.

Nia and Vivenne stood just behind Sera, worriedly looking at Momo as she writhed in the air. Oh god, I’m going to be cooked for dinner, Momo thought miserably. She’s serving me up as her first course.

“Speechless? Understandable,” Sera flicked her hand to the right, flinging Momo across the room and right above the table that lay before Sera. She set Momo down on it in a sitting position, but Momo found she couldn’t move. Her limbs were being folded into her, pressed to her chest. The dark energy pushed harder and harder, strangling her like a straight jacket.

“Let her go!” Radu yelled. Everyone’s head whipped towards him. “I’m sure she’s not worth the meal. Why not sacrifice one of the knights instead?”

Sera quirked her head. “Sacrifice? Now where did you get that idea?”

“You’re not eating me?” Momo said, jaw slack in confusion.

“Eating you? Don’t be disgusting,” Sera’s face screwed up in horror, and she followed Momo’s gaze to the table beneath her. “Are you talking about the tools Vivienne brought me? Gods, those aren’t for eating. They’re for cleaning up my skeletons. I prefer my minions looking sharp. Dapper. Too much decay, and they lose their charm.”

“Oh,” Momo blinked. “So what are you doing with me?”

“Having a face to face conversation is all. Is that a crime?” she asked. She stood up and put her hands palm-down on the table, leaning her face forward so it sat just a few inches from Momo’s. Momo could feel her breath on her cheek – as rotten as one would expect. Her bright blue eyes raked over Momo’s face.

Sera took Momo’s chin in her hand, tilting it like a mannequin.

“You certainly make an unconventional vessel. High heart rate. Low blood count. Weak to most things, low strength score. A fear of blood. A fear of skeletons," Sera listed a few more notable qualities, and then paused. "And yet there's something... delightfully intriguing about you. I'm starting to understand what Morgana sees in you.”

Momo tried peeling her face away from Sera’s grasp, but the woman’s grip was firm. She twisted Momo's chin left, then up, and then down, examining her like a fresh cadaver.

“I would appreciate it if you stopped pushing my face around,” Momo mumbled quietly.

Sera blinked. “Oh, my apologies.” To Momo’s surprise, she actually released her. “Just a medic’s muscle memory, you know? Before I was a necromancer, I was a [Coroner]. I’m so used to bodies coming to me lifeless. You can imagine my surprise when one talks back to me.”

Momo blinked nervously, unsure if that was a joke or not.

“What are you going to do with me?” Momo interjected, cutting to the chase. To say she was receiving mixed signals was an understatement. The woman hugged her, levitated her, flung her, then inspected her. She was a control freak, that was for sure. A murderer, definitely. A cannibal, apparently not.

But what did she have planned now?

“Oh,” Sera frowned. She seemed genuinely confused. “Have I not been clear? I want to hire you.”

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