Chapter 84 - How All Traumas Should Be Overcome
"Hello, sweetie. How're things in the lobby?"
"All set." Zen trudges up the final few stairs into their roof-top lounge, then shuffles over to the arm-chair her wife was seated on and promptly steals the woman's lap. "Got Clara and Darya inside the armory waitin' for 'em. They're gonna get one Hell of a surprise."
"And the look-outs?"
"Jess 'n Mish paired with Retta and Jana-the-Brute."
"Nice. So it's just us up here?"
"And my candidates."
"I thought they were tailing those thugs."
"Yah. But when they come in here, they're gonna block the way back out."
Joanne flashes a wide smile down to her softly-purring kitten, and minutely adjusts the strokes against her mate's ears in order to illicit a new noise of contentment. "This should be fun."
"Hmph. For all 'f five minutes, yeah. Then comes the blood."
"Lots of blood. And, y'know, it's been far too long since I've tortured and killed anyone."
"Not since Shitestad, huh?"
"Pretty much. I'm not counting the Duke, 'cause we barely got to play with him."
"Yeah... he was dead pretty quick."
"Oh! That reminds me! I got a letter from the Duchess yesterday!"
"Huh. How'd it get here?"
"Uh... it... magicked itself."
"Seriously?"
The red-headed healer lightly clears her throat before offering the full story. "Well, no. I might've nipped down to Kileah for a spot of tea with Alyssa."
"When was that?"
"Mid-afternoon."
"Huh. An' where was I?"
"Just starting your second training-session with your scouties."
"'Scouties'?"
"What? Don't like that? I think it's cute."
"They're fearsome, though. Or... they will be."
"So until then they're 'scouties'."
"Meh. Whatever. What'd th' Duchess say?"
"Oh, not much. Just an update on things in the castle, and saying that her eldest daughter had decided on a mate, but her youngest was still hesitating to choose her puppet."
"Puppets, huh."
"As was Marcia's husband, apparently. For all the important decisions."
"Figures. She seemed rather controlling."
"Yup. So, anyways, they're going to be holding a joint ceremony for the girls at some point. It'll be a huge festival."
"Damnit."
"What?"
"They're gonna make my kin work harder."
"The ones you saved from the undercroft?"
"The sewers, yah."
"Sweetie, no effluence moves through there."
"Still smelled like a sewer."
"Well, of course. All the dead rats and such? Mold?"
"Anyways."
"Hmph. So it'll be in the spring, and Lady Marcia has invited the entire Sisterhood to come and watch the whole show."
"Huh. That's generous."
"Isn't it great! All our girls will get to wear really pretty dresses!"
Zen snaps open her eyes upon immediately thinking about the cost, then blinks twice as she remembers they were beyond wealthy, and finally just pops her shoulders in a shrug before settling back down. "The spring, huh... we might have another six hotels open by then."
"Oh."
"Did ya forget?"
"N... yes."
"I just had a moment where I forgot we're stupidly rich."
"I have to remind myself of that a few times a day. Then I giggle."
"Huh... so that's why."
"Yeah. Sometimes."
"Why? What else d' ya giggle 'bout?"
"Everything."
"So... yer just giggle-crazy."
"Pretty much." Joanne issues a soft snicker while gently scratching her wife's head. "I mean... us. The Sisterhood. Seeing so many people happy. It just puts me in a really good mood."
"Hmph. I jus' see problems."
"Like what?"
"Threats. Lack of effort. Not enough dedication."
"Oh, Mizuki."
"Whut."
"Sweetie... you need to step back from time to time. Just to watch the girls play and laugh."
"If they've got time to laugh, then they've got time to train more."
"Honey. Not the point."
"Whatever."
"No, look. This weekend when we go an' visit Jozejemi and Kileah-"
"We're goin' again?"
"Well... yes? Gerald and Carson's limbs will be ready, right? And we've gotta bring Bea, Clar, and Uma back."
"Ugh. Right."
"Anyways, this weekend, you should take some time to just play with the girls. No special training."
"That was just-"
"No. Special. Training."
"Hmph. Then what're we even s'pposed t' do? There's nothin' in Jozejemi."
"Well... then how about this." The red-headed healer perfectly manages to conceal a grin as she finally gets to the point of locking in her gentle persuasion. "Take a few of the girls from there and head to one of the cities. Spend the morning just walking around and seeing what draws their interest. And if you think that sort of thing would be a benefit to our beautiful town, then see if those businesses would like to open a new branch."
The small Scout blinks open her eyes at the thought that she'd be able to bring enough businesses to their miniature Empire to line the available streets ten times over. What's more, if the Sisterhood took care of the neccessary start-up fees, then they'd be able to negotiate a massive discount. In addition, if she took the time to train a few of their Sisters on the ways and means of teleportation, then they'd be able to bring goods to their town for next to nothing.
"So?"
Zen clears her throat, twice, and sets a slightly dis-interested tone into her voice, despite the fact that her tail was happily wagging. "Yeah, well... prob'ly won't find anything good... but I suppose it'd be enough to pass a boring mornin'."
"Exactly. And the next day, you could do the same for the girls in Kileah." Joanne offers an unseen shrug while staring towards the shaggy, unceasing appendage of her cute kitten. "You might not be able to bring whole shops over there, but you'd be able to order a bunch of things that they'd want."
"Well... I guess... it'd kinda be unfair if they were left out."
"Yup. Plus, the girls will all be very happy."
"Hmph. Doesn't take much t' do that." The short Cat-woman frowns while making herself into a big ball on her wife's lap. "Anyways... I'ma take a nap."
"Now?"
"Yah... still a couple hours 'til go-time..."
"You're seriously-" The ginger healer holds her breath for a few moments, then issues a snort of annoyance upon realizing her lover was already asleep. "Honestly."
However, depite feigning a deep respite, Zen was simply keeping careful track of the ambient noises while soaking up a soothing scalp-massage. And after listening to the girls playing with one-another on the floor below for close to an hour, it then becomes deadly silent as the night fully settles in.
From there, the only sounds were her wife's steady breathing, interspersed with random giggles, distant hoots from a pair of snowy owls, a few slight gusts of wind slipping through the wooden shutters, and a high-pitched, annoying hum coming from magical heaters stationed in the corners of the lounge.
But just before midnight, a couple of soft, harsh whispers from outside cause her ears to twitch, then she springs out of her mate's lap and moves over to the top of the stairs.
Joanne takes that as her queue, and reaches over to douse the chair-side lamp before fumbling in the dark to her own spot on the opposite side of the spacious room.
"Th' feck's takin' so long?"
"It ain't a lock, arseface. It's a bar."
"Just hurry up."
Zen accesses her pouch to withdraw her mithril katana and a specially-crafted mithril short-sword, then spends the next few boring moments simply twirling them around while waiting for the inept men to subvert the sole security-measure they'd left in place. Typically, there'd also be another dozen glyphs set down every night, but since they'd been watching during the day, they simply didn't know that.
"Almost... al~most... there."
"'Bout feckin' time."
"Hey. Ain't we waitin' on the others?"
The wide roof-access door slowly creeps open by a few inches, then one of the men pushes it fully inwards before leading the way. "Feck 'em. They'll hafta catch up. C'mon. Be quiet as mice."
"Those feckers squeak, though."
"Shut it."
The red-headed healer waits until the moon-lit doorway is free of slinking degenerates, and for a pair of inquisitive, cloaked heads to peek around the frame, then she conjures a dozen bright orbs of twinkling light to appear around the room.
"Wh!"
"Feck!"
"Hello." The small Scout flashes a truly evil smile towards the eight ruffians caught in a few rather hilarious poses, and she slowly spreads her blades out to the sides in order to stoke their anixieties even more. "Welcome... to Kuro and Shiro... dear guests."
Fully half of the idiots immediately draw their knives and daggers, while the other contingent whirl around with the thought of simply fleeing... but it takes them all of a quarter-second to realize that six more people with tight black leathers and hoods were blocking their escape.
"Drop your weapons, now, or I slice off every one of your legs." A few tense seconds tick by as the men consider their options, though the sight of mithril swords and a flaming dark-steel katana helps them to make the proper choice, wherein their drawn or concealed blades begin to fall like rain, and Zen can't help but frown at the fact that none of them wanted to fight. "Tch. Fine. Jo. Restrain them."
"Damnit. Okay, one at a time, step over here." Joanne lets out a heavy sigh while sheathing her weapon, then accesses her pouch to withdraw a long length of rough hemp rope.
"What th' feck is goin' on. Didn't yuh say there weren't no-body up here at night?"
"Shut it, fecker."
"Can't believe you dragged me into this shite."
"Shut it."
The short Cat-woman languidly twirls her swords around in the air, paying more attention to the pretty green lights left behind than the men's grumbling, but after just a few minutes her wife finishes lashing their wrists together, and she stowes her weapons before moving over to speak with her candidates. "So. No-one was noticed?"
"Nope. Not even Ezra when she tripped."
The plain-looking girl displays a frown, and probably sends a glare through her meshed cowl towards the ginger-teen dressed as she was. "You tripped me."
"I stopped. You tripped yourself."
"Anyways. If they never realized you were tailing them, then you all get passing marks. Hell, I'm more impressed that you guys didn't make a sound while moving across the roof. Normally the crunch of snow would give you away."
The tallest teen, Juniper, looking impossibly lanky inside of her black leathers, can only offer a shrug for the praise. "Well, considering that we spent the entire day learning how to move quietly inside of those damned suits..."
"Yeah."
"Yup."
"Only to be expected, huh? Don't sell yourselves short. Anyways, you two, head down and rouse the others, then lead them over to the place I told you about. The rest of you are look-outs for the town watch."
"Okay."
"Sure."
Zen bumps a fist against each of her trainees' own, then paces out onto the rooftop and halts at the side overlooking a slim alley.
As she'd overheard the night before, these thugs had stolen a sturdy ladder from somewhere, and had simply laid it across the gap in order to walk from one roof to the other.
Since there couldn't be evidence left behind, the small Scout drags the ladder onto their section, then sets about cutting it up into pieces for better storage and later burial.
Next, she uses her new-found mastery of the arcane to conjure a staircase along the wall, then silently motions their captives along.
Once on the ground they meet up with the other would-be robbers, trussed-up in the same manner as their own, then they all begin to trudge up to the warehouse the males would have used as a torture-house.
It was rather run-down, though built solidly-enough that the roof-lines were still perfectly straight, despite the fact that whole sections of wooden shingles had disappeared over the years. The interior was much in the same state, with broken, empty crates piled high around the outsides, leaving just a medium-sized space at the centre perfectly clear of debris.
Zen stations herself at one side of the clearing, and creates a large, elevated throne to sit upon, purely because she could.
In only another few minutes, the entire compliment of staff from Kuro and Shiro were assembled in a large semi-circle, with the a dozen bound men on their knees at the centre, looking both confused and slightly terrified... which, of course, they had every right to be.
"Alright! Quiet down. The first judicial congress of the Scylla Sisterhood will commence." The short Cat-woman slowly stands up from her seat and clutches her hands behind her lower-back. "These degenerates were caught attempting to rob our house, and to kidnap a number of you girls, in order to rape and torture to death. So-"
"THAT AIN'T TRUE!"
"W-we wasn't gonna do nothin'!"
"I was jus' lookin' fer the loo."
"I'm drunk. I dunno what I'm doin'."
Zen decides to adopt an expression of utter shock. "Oh! Well! I didn't realize that you all were innocents!"
"T-that's right!"
"Well! Perhaps we should just let you go!"
"Y-yeah! We's jus' innocent."
"Idiots." The small Scout drops her act to level an icy glare towards the dumb-as-dirt human males. "Do the guards actually buy those ridiculous lines? Pathetic. Now shut up, or I'll simply have you all killed."
"Y-you can't do that!"
"Bring us to the guards!"
"You BITCH!"
"Him. Break his arm."
"No! What?!"
Zen watches Clara take a single step out from the semi-circle to affect a heavy kick against the prick who dared call their Master a 'bitch', and a resounding crack shatters the cool air. Unfortunately, she'd forgotten the fact that people with severely broken bones tended to scream. "Gag him."
The massive Bear-kin rolls her eyes before following through with the command. It would've been simpler to just kill him.
"Good. Now you should understand the power that we hold over you. Which is absolute." The short Cat-woman slides her gaze along the row of terrified males, save for two slimmer men on the end who were simply bowing their heads in acceptance of their fate. "You all stand accused and convicted of your crimes against the Sisterhood. But your fates rest with them."
The horrified men quickly glance around at all the extremely angry girls encircling them, and though they hope to find a face that was sympathetic, it becomes very clear to them that there would be no mercy.
"Sisters!" Zen throws her hands into the air in order to garner their undivided attention. "These disgusting pigs wanted to rape you! To torture you! And to murder you in the most-brutal ways imaginable! So I. Ask. You. What shall we do in turn?!"
The small Scout grins as a few more vocal girls begin to shout suggestions, and they only grow more violent in scope the longer they continue...
But there was one tiny voice somewhere in the back simply repeating 'don't kill them.'.
After searching in vain for the source, Zen once more holds up her hands in a bid to quiet the bloody-thirsty mob. "Hold on, hold on. One of our Sisters has a different opinion, so we'll first hear her reasons. In the back. You know who you are. Step forward."
"Aw, feck."
"Yes. 'Aw, feck' is right. Come on."
"Gods damnit... how good's her hearing..."
"Extremely good. Come on."
A smaller, thin teen with an ugly bowl-cut topping utterly striking features slips through to stand behind their captives. Obviously, with everyone's attention focused on her, she has a rather displeased frown on her lips, but the defiant glare she gives speaks volumes.
"Which are you?"
"Mary."
"Alright." The short Cat-woman nods in remembrance as she places the face and name to some other factoids. One being that this girl was one of the few not training to enter the Dungeons, instead preferring to focus on working at and protecting their hotel. As such, she was being trained to maim, and not out-right murder anyone that stood against her. "You don't want us to kill these men."
"That's right."
"Why?"
"Because they didn't do anything to us."
Zen frowns as nearly the entire warehouse erupts in jeers, and it takes a good dozen seconds to calm everyone so they can resume their discussion. "I told you what they planned. And they were caught in the act."
"No. You caught them before they did anything."
"Well we weren't gonna allow them to kidnap, rape and torture any of you."
"You don't know that they would have." Mary clenches her slender hands into tight fists in an effort to keep herself from losing control of her emotions. "They could have called it off at the last second. But you didn't give them that chance."
The small Scout allows a sigh to escape as all of their other Sisters again begin to offer their own suggestions as to what would have happened, and why they should be able to lop off their peckers and shove them down their throats. "Mary... if you were a Beastkin, you'd have been able to smell their determination. Their lust. They were all committed to their plans."
"Y-yeah, but-"
"They would have killed you. If they took you. Or they could have killed her. Or her. Or me."
The thin human dips her head down at the thought of anyone being murdered.
"Look at those chains." Zen directs everyones attention towards a number of shackles and irons piled at the sides of some crates. "They were prepared. They would have slapped those on one of your Sisters, then violated her time after time. Day after day. And then, when they simply grew tired of her, she'd be strangled, or stabbed, or just left to starve. So, I'm sorry, sweetie, but we need to cleanse this world of these foul people."
"P-please... don't..."
The small Scout frowns while watching the teen begin to silently cry upon realizing that her efforts were entirely in vain. She probably had a deep-seeded reason to try and defend these degenerates... but now wasn't the time to pry it out.
Besides, it'd probably go extend to one of her family-members, back before she'd wound up as a slave. Maybe even herself.
Still... these pigs deserved to die...
Yet if they killed them outright, then Mary would probably begin to hate all that they stood for. And leaving one of their members behind simply wasn't an option.
"Alright... we will spare their lives... but an appropriate, and extremely harsh punishment should be given, both to serve as a warning to every other arsehole out there, as well as to identify these ones for who they truly are."
"Th... th-"
"It's fine, sweetie." Zen manages a warm smile towards the poor girl who was busily wiping at her eyes. "And if you don't want to witness their punishment, you can just go back to the hotel."
"Mm."
"Same for the rest of you. If you don't care to hear tortured screams of pain, then you can head back now." The short Cat-woman sits back down on her cojured throne, and allows a few minutes for her Sisters to think about witnessing such an ordeal. Not surprisingly, almost half of the contingent shuffle back out into the cold.
Those that remained were all vanguards and secondaries, as well as a tiny Pomerainan-kin with a mile-wide lust to see human men suffer, along with Jess, Mish, and Joanne, of course. Even Uma went back to her bed... though it'd undoubtedly contain three more girls within the hour.
"So." The small Scout again pushes herself up from her throne, then paces down the trio of steps and meanders over to the line of cowering men. "Which of these fools wanted the money?"
Clara shuffles to her Master's side and points at four men in turn, including the one with the broken arm and gag. "They were all quite enthusiastic about stealing from us."
"In Shitestad, the penalty for thievery is to cut off a hand..." Zen folds her arms across her chest while considering all the variables. "But we're slightly more civil than those goat-smelling bastards, so we'll just cut off their thumbs."
"That's not enough."
"Hah?"
The massive Bear-kin offers their leader a little shrug. "They can still do a lot of damage with their remaining fingers."
"But they can't hold traditional weapons."
"No, but I'm sure they could have some specially crafted."
"Tr~ue..."
"I believe we should also blind them. And cut out their tongues. And castrate them."
The short Cat-woman stares up at the huge teenager for a little while, carefully considering the choices, then looks back to the now-quaking men on the verge of fouling themselves. "Well... while I would find that rather hilarious, I think they'd become too much of a drain for others. Far too needy."
"It would send a good message."
"That it would. But I think we'll only go with half of that punishment."
"Castration. And tongues."
"No, no. I mean, we'll cut off their thumbs, blind them in their dominant eye..."
"And castration."
"Let's take a vote." Zen turns her attention towards her wickedly-grinning Sisters in order to get a concensus. "Those in favour, raise their hands. Keep in mind that one of you will have to touch them in order to cut off their balls."
Immediately, the vanguards and secondaries all adopt expressions of distaste and disgust, then hurriedly glance around for someone brave enough to do something they wouldn't.
"Not a single one, huh... Clara, not even you?"
"I have no interest in touching men."
"Then it's settled." The small Scout dusts off her palms in a display of finality. "Thumbs and one eye." She takes a step towards the slightly-relieved males, and treats them to a world-class sneer. "I don't believe I need to tell you... but this is our mercy. If any of you utter a single word to the guards about your punishments, we will track you down and visit upon you horrors that you don't even have the capacity to dream up. In addition, if you come withing three blocks of our hotel, or a hundred metres of one of our members, we will take that as a declaration of intent, and your balls will belong to us."
"Okay! Who wants to cut off thumbs!"
Zen blinks twice at hearing the enthusiastic voice of her wife, and a glance in the Angel of Mercy's direction reveals an all-too-happy smile. "Well... guess Jo's in charge of the punishments."
"You married a good human."
"Little bloody-thirsty, though..."
"A perfect match for you."
"Hah?"
Clara stares down at the confused feline, then tilts her head slightly to the side in a display of her own sense of wonderment. "How many have you killed in the name of the Sisterhood."
"Oh. Well... whatever." Zen whirls around to destroy her raised throne, then starts to head for the exit of the warehouse. "About time for a snack."
"Mizuki? Where're you going?"
"I'm hungry."
"Of course." Joanne lets out a heavy sigh, then returns her attention to the group of eager girls huddling circling the trembling men like a pack of sharks at a feeding-frenzy. "Alright, sweeties. So, this is how to separate a joint."
The short Cat-woman shakes her head to rid the scream of agony from her mind, and steps out into the cold winter night before thinking about what she could make for an easy meal. Hmm... probably not meat, 'cause that'd just be... well, whatever. A little meat was fine.
Cake.
Oh... would Hanna have left a couple sitting around in Jozejemi?
...
Zen shuffles to a halt and slowly looks around for evidence of people lurking in the shadows, then hauls out her enchanted mirror and calls up an image of the kitchens in question. "Oh, Hanna... you really shouldn't have."