Chapter 60: Chapter 58: Taking Charge

Raphael hesitated at the door to Kali’s room. She…she didn’t want to go through with this, but she knew that, if she didn’t, it was only going to get harder.

Unprompted, the door opened. “Raphael?” Kali asked. “Do you need something? You’ve been out there for…a long time.”

Raphael shook her head, psyching herself up. “Yeah. Um…I want to talk to Gr…I mean, I want to talk to Elenoa.”

Kali raised an eyebrow. “Come on in, then.”

Raphael gingerly entered the room. Lilith’s body was lying down on the bed, looking just like it had when Kali had explained to everyone what was going on. Raphael didn’t quite get the whole “fractured soul” thing, but she understood enough to know that Lilith was healing and would be essentially in a coma for a few years.

“Go ahead and sit.” Kali said. “Give me a minute to get this ready.”

Raphael sat in one of the beanbag chairs that were scattered on the floor, and waited. Eventually, Kali turned to her. “Ready?”

Raphael nodded hesitantly. “Yeah.”

There was a brief wave of dizziness, and then a vision of Elenoa appeared in front of Raphael. She appeared to be laying down in a small room that Raphael didn’t recognize, but she quickly sat upright and looked towards Raphael.

“Raphael? What’s going on? This better not be a trick, or I will come for whoever’s messing with me.”

“It’s not a trick, I just need to have a talk with you.”

“Have you finally come to your senses, then? I see you weren’t able to convince those idiots to turn you back before you left.” Elenoa sneered. “I suppose I can find it in my heart to forgive you. Where are you? I might not have as much influence as before, but I can still arrange for someone to pick you up.”

Hearing that only served to strengthen Raphael’s resolve. “No, Elenoa.” She said firmly. “I think you’re the one who needs to come to her senses. But that’s not what I want to talk to you about. Instead, I’m going to tell you how our future is going to be, got it?”

“No, I don’t ‘got it’!” Elenoa snarled. “You don’t tell me what to do. I’m in charge of you, if you hadn’t noticed.”

“Not anymore.” Raphael said. “I’m disowning you, Elenoa. You’re a nasty, spiteful narcissist who’s got her head stuck so far up her behind that she’s mistaken the scent of her own filth for perfume. I don’t want to talk to you again until you realize why what you’ve done is wrong and are ready to apologize.”

“Listen here, you brat, I–”

“No. I’m not listening to you anymore. Oh, and for the record, my friends are more than happy to change me back any time I want. I’ve just chosen to stay like this, from now on. Goodbye, Elenoa.”

“Our conversation is not over, you whelp, I raised you, and this is how you repay me?! I should come over there and drag you back myself, and then I’ll–”

The transmission cut. “I…think we could both see where that was going.” Kali said. “I can call her back if you want, but I don’t think either of us needs to hear more of her bile.”

Raphael nodded. “I…I think I’ve had enough of that for a lifetime, yeah. Thanks, Kali.”

“Any time.” Kali replied, giving her a smile. “Anything else I can do for you while you’re here?”

Raphael shook her head. “I’ll…I’ll be heading out, now.”

Kali gave her a grin. “Before you go, what was the whole ‘mistaken the scent of her own filth for perfume’ thing supposed to mean? It sounds insulting, sure, but I’m not sure I quite follow the logic in that metaphor.”

Raphael blushed. “I just got caught up in the heat of the moment. I was trying to get at her thinking the wrong thing was right, and I was already going with the whole head up her behind thing so I just sorta said something.”

Kali laughed. “Alright then. I’ll have to write that one down. Run along, then.”

And Raphael did. Literally. She ran all the way back to Alex’s room in a state of…she didn’t even know. Panic? Exhilaration? Both? Whatever it was, she frantically knocked on Alex’s door, barely even waiting for a reply before she threw herself into the older woman’s room, and then into said woman’s arms.

“How’d it go?” Alex asked, stroking Raphael’s head soothingly.

“I…I don’t even know.” Raphael giggled. “I just…did it! I just went out there and said exactly how I felt!”

Alex gave her a smile. “That’s good to hear. How’d she take it?”

“Not well. She started yelling at me and honestly, it just made me realize that I was right. I don’t need her in my life, not now. Maybe someday in the future when I’m older and can try and…help her, but I don’t think that’ll be for a bit.”

“Good. So…what are you planning to do now? Are you going to go back to Tunem’s academy once you decide to move out, or what? You…don’t exactly have anywhere to go now.”

Raphael blinked. “I…hadn’t thought about that. I, um, I just figured I’d stay here with you guys, forever. Um…do I have to move out?”

Alex started blushing. “Well…I’ve been doing some thinking myself, and now that you’re…free, um, if you want, I could…you know, officially adopt you. I already like taking care of you and we hang out all the time, so I just thought we could…make it official.”

Raphael froze, thinking that through. She liked Alex, liked her a lot. Alex made her feel…safe, and was always there for her. She made Raphael feel…loved. And, that being the case, her choice was obvious. “I…I would love that…mom.”

Alex squirmed a little, blush intensifying. “Then, um…let’s go talk with Kali or Mae, I’m sure they could get the paperwork taken care of.”

Raphael nodded, hugging Alex…no, her mother, tighter. “I love you.” She whispered.

“Love you too, sweetie.”

---

Raphael knocked on Emily’s door, fidgeting nervously as she waited for an answer.

“Yes?” Emily asked, opening the door. She frowned when she saw Raphael, narrowing her eyes. “What do you want?”

“I…um…” Raphael stammered, looking down. “I…want to apologize. I treated you poorly, more poorly than you deserved. I…I used you like a tool, and that’s not okay.”

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“I’ll keep that in mind.” Emily said frostily. “But actions speak louder than words. If you’re really sorry, then show me.”

Raphael nodded glumly. “I…thought you would say that, so I thought, um, I…could be your maid for however long you want, maybe? I won’t complain no matter what you ask me to do, so you can just…treat me like how I treated you”

“I don’t need a maid.” Emily said flatly.

“O-oh.” Raphael replied, face falling. “I…um…I’m willing to do anything else–”

“I don’t need a maid.” Emily said. “But I would appreciate some assistance managing my duties as Lilith’s maid. To that end, you will be my coworker slash assistant, understood?”

Raphael looked up gratefully. “U-understood, ma’am!” She said, giving a clumsy salute.

Emily rolled her eyes. “Alright, let’s go get you measured for a uniform.”

“I…yes, ma’am.”

“Don’t call me ma’am. Emily works fine.”

“U-understood.”

Emily rolled her eyes again before motioning into her room. Raphael walked inside, and Emily closed the door behind them. “Sit on the bed.” She commanded.

Raphael did as instructed, and Emily walked to her desk, grabbed some sort of tool from within, and pointed it at Raphael. There was a small beep, and then Emily turned the tool over, inspecting it. “You’re dismissed.” She said distractedly. “Be here at ten A.M. sharp tomorrow.”

“Y-yes, m – Emily!” Raphael said, leaping up from the bed and hurrying out of the room. That…had not gone how she had expected it to go, but she was happy with the result nonetheless. If she was truly going to put her past behind her, then she needed to be willing to make up for it, no matter what it might entail.

Besides, how hard could maid work possibly be? It was just…cooking and cleaning…right?

---

Vithi gave her things one last check before nodding in approval and leaving her lair. She came back to the ‘real’ world in her room in the dungeon, which had been stripped bare of everything except for the furniture itself. Mae had given her a little token that allowed her to access her lair without having to go through Lilith, and that had been the final thing she needed to be ready.

She gave the room a cursory glance, smiling slightly as she took it all in. She wasn’t planning to be back for a while, and even if she had, essentially, become trapped in this dungeon for a time, it was far more tolerable than the lamp had ever been. She had people to talk to, things to do, and each day was at least slightly different than the last.

But, all the same, it had still been a prison, at least of a sort. Vithi longed to be moving, going from place to place. It didn’t matter where, just so long as it wasn’t the same place it had been the day or the week before.

And, finally, she was able to do so. Now that Elenoa was gone and Baern was little more than a token presence on the Council, there wasn’t anything preventing those close to Lilith from being out in the world.

It was a good feeling. After centuries upon centuries of being confined to a single area, she finally had freedom to roam the world. No one would tell her where to go, what to do, she would just go where her wanderlust took her.

She’d start with Earth, just to get back into the swing of things. She was much stronger than she had been before all of this, but she didn’t feel comfortable going straight to Haven, not when she hadn’t seen actual combat for so long.

The borders of countries might give her some issue, but she’d figure something out. Surely there would be some way for her to sneak across some of the more isolated areas; she wasn’t really planning on staying around the cities all of the time.

And, worst case scenario, she’d just teleport back to the dungeon and have Mae teleport her into the new country. She didn’t want to rely on anyone else, but if it came down to it, she would.

So, she stepped out of the door, and made her way into one of the common rooms. “Well, I think it’s about time.” She said, surveying the gathered people. “I’m going to be on my way.”

Eve gave her a nod. “I understand. Um…if Lilith was here, I think she’d want me to say that, if you ever need us, just call. We’ll come help out, no questions asked. Uh…provided it’s not something super sketchy, that is. Then there will be questions asked.”

“Thanks.” Vithi said. “I’ll try not to unless it’s important or I have no other options.” She paused briefly, considering if she wanted to say what was on her mind, then, having made her mind up, continued. “But…if our contract ever breaks, could…could you come immediately? That’s not something I’m ever going to do willingly, so I’ll…probably be in trouble.”

“Of course.” Eve said, an uncharacteristic seriousness on her face. “We’ll be there.”

I would also like to thank you. Mae said. Without you, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

“As if.” Vithi snorted. “Kali would have got you guys here no matter what. I was just the tool she used to do that.”

Regardless, the fact remains that you helped us get here, and for that I remain thankful.

“Sure, fine, I guess.” Vithi replied, scratching the back of her neck embarrassedly. “It really wasn’t a big deal, though.”

“I’d…also like to thank you.” Alex said. “Without you I would still be stuck in the Society, not knowing quite how to get out. And if Kali had chosen a different method to get Lilith here, then I probably would still be there too, so no excuses.”

“I…” Vithi began to protest, but, seeing the look in Alex’s eyes, stopped. “Alright, I get it.”

“I’ll be keeping in touch, okay?” Alex said. “Don’t be afraid to just come back and hang out from time to time, either.”

“Okay, okay, I understand.” Vithi said, smiling slightly. “I won’t just up and leave forever.”

“Good.” Alex said. “So…go enjoy yourself out there.”

Vithi nodded. “I will, thanks.”

The rest of the goodbyes were pleasant, if a bit less personal. Vithi hadn’t really gotten close with anyone else, so she couldn’t really blame them for that. And, finally, after another ten or so minutes, it was time to go.

She activated the token Mae had given her, letting it take her out of the dungeon and to the last place she had been on Earth, the cabin she had escaped to with Judy and Lilith. She was in the United States, so…why not start there? The land had plenty of diversity to it, and she wouldn’t be stopped at borders for quite some time, so it was the perfect place to begin her journey.

And with that she smiled, and stepped out of the door into her new life.