Demon Queened - Chapter 93 - Rough Draft/Final Chapter (???? Other than epilogue, I mean)

Devilla

Walking down the hallway of Liz’s divine abode, I wasn’t surprised to find my heart beating faster and faster. I was, after all, on the way to meet my mother. A woman I knew next to nothing about, other than the fact that she apparently loved me beyond all reason. Enough to turn the area around the tower into a wasteland, just to protect me.

It was… difficult to wrap my head around. As stated, I truly knew next to nothing about her. Only the stories I’d been told, as a child, from her generals - about her being calm and in command, always thinking of her people first… I wondered how much of that was a front she put on? Or even just propaganda fed to me by the generals, who sought to control how I acted? They always said that our people’s safety had been my mother’s greatest concern, and that the best way to honor her memory was to pick up that mantle.

As far as her actual personality went, though, all I had to go off of was the letter she’d left for me. Not much, to say the least. Especially since she’d written it before I was born. Had the warmth she’d once gazed upon me with all faded, during her time in captivity? Watching me first act as a puppet, then a brat, must surely have disillusioned her - after everything she’d done, all the work she’d put into giving me my freedom, I had almost wasted it and ruined everything. Only Liz’s intervention had pulled me back from the brink - and even now, it was difficult for me to accept that I had truly changed. I was still the same person, deep down, after all - surely that meant I was still a brat, as well?

Even if I wasn’t, it hardly made a difference to the people I’d hurt, did it? Ashley’s bad behavior had arguably been the result of an outside force - a much more direct, and persistent one than anything I had dealt with. Yet I still couldn’t forgive her for what she had done… so what right did I have to ask anyone to forgive me?

“You do realize you stopped walking, like, a minute ago right?” Abigail asked, interrupting my thoughts with an exasperated sigh.

“She’s probably just nervous about meeting her mom!” Lucy said, in my defense.

“Or she’s beating herself up for not being worthy of her mom,” Abigail replied, narrowing her eyes when I flinched. “You do realize that’s hogwash, right? I mean, you just saved a literal goddess. Beat up your ancestor, defeated the head of the enemy church, maybe even launched us towards actual peace…”

“My accomplishments don’t define who I am,” I replied, frowning. “I’m-”

“Fuck that,” Abigail interrupted. “Your accomplishments might not define you, but they sure as hell say a lot about what you’ve put your efforts towards! You worked hard, Devilla. It’s alright to feel proud of yourself for it.”

“But everything I did-”

“Pales in comparison to what you accomplished,” Abigail stated, firmly.

Lucy nodded. “I’m sure your mom will agree!”

“Maybe…” I replied, much more hesitant. “But if she’s truly been watching my life play out, as Liz claims, then she knows of all the mistakes I made. The people I hurt.”

“The people you upset,” Abigail scoffed. “You yelled at some maids. Tossed people into a surprisingly well kept prison cell for a few days - speaking of, you do know that there were special cells just for the people you unjustly imprisoned, right? It’s not like they actually underwent the full criminal experience. Not when everyone knew you were just being a petty brat…”

“I’m aware,” I replied, a faint flush touching my cheeks. “It wasn’t exactly a well kept secret… and since most of the people I jailed early on were those in positions of power, so it’s hardly a surprise they found a way to make their short prison stays more comfortable… but it still bothers me that I just… threw them in jail for annoying me. It’s not like I’m the one who took steps to soften the blow.”

“Plus, there’s all those girls you slapped,” Abigail added. “Though considering you could have blown their heads off with a flick of the finger, I guess I should maybe call that restraint….”

“I thought you were supposed to be making me feel better?” I asked, incredulously.

“I’m reminding you that you were a stuck up and petty bitch, not an ironfisted tyrant. Just the fact that people were allowed to complain about you without any consequences sorta says it all, don’t you think?”

“I… just didn’t see the point in throwing literally everyone in jail,” I muttered, looking away.

“That, and you always cared about us,” Abigail insisted. “Even back then, you cared about your people’s well being. Didn’t you?”

“...” I didn’t have a reply to that. I wasn’t sure I had. I mean, it’s true that I never fled the tower, but that was largely because I had nowhere to go. And yes, I always intended to fight the Heroine to the death - repeatedly, even. To the day I died… but that’s just what was expected of me. It was always what had been expected of me. In fact, it felt kind of funny to realize that such a death would never even come to pass…

“You cared,” Abigail repeated, firmly, trust and resolve intertwined in her voice. “Maybe you didn’t even realize it yourself, but you did. You do. Just like you care about us. And just like your mom cares about you.”

“Bringing it back around to that, are we?” I grumbled, good naturedly. A tired smile spread across my face. “I suppose you’re right… or at least I certainly hope you are. About my mother, in particular…”

“She is!” Lucy said, firmly. “I mean, how could anyone who watched you not be proud of you? After everything you’ve accomplished!”

“After everything I’ve done?” I questioned.

“After everything you’ve been through,” Abigail countered, before pointing down the hallway. There, just past the smoking remains of a wooden door, was my mother’s room. Its own door still closed, and locked.

I wondered if my mother was watching me, even now? If she could see this, even now?

“Go on,” Abigail encouraged me. “We’ll be waiting.”

“You’re not coming in?” I asked surprised.

She shook her head. 

“I think you should meet her first, Eena,” Lucy said. “I mean, it’s sort of a big reunion for you, isn’t it?”

“I don’t even remember her…” I muttered. “Other than a vague recollection of warmth, at least. I may have a perfect memory, but a baby’s brain isn’t built for storing much information or thinking things through very well…”

“Well, aren’t you curious about the source of that warmth?” Abigail demanded. “Don’t you want to feel it again? For the first time in twenty-one years? I know if it was my Mom, I’d be rushing in there to see her.”

“Me too,” Lucy agreed.

“Yes, but…” They both knew their mothers. That’s what I wanted to say. But how could I say that to Lucy, who’d lost hers? And who only recently learned for sure how…

So, instead, I let out a sigh and moved towards the door, the key to the room grasped tight in my fist. “Here goes nothing…”

***

Grimmilla

***

The room was silent, other than the sound of my own footsteps as I paced. The screen on the wall, which had long been keyed to my daughter, had turned to static the moment Devilla had first entered the void, in preparation for her transport. Worse, I couldn’t even ask Liz what was going on - she’d barely been able to communicate with me at all since her very first bit of interference, with Devilla’s reading of the rite, and now that she was actively helping out my daughter she’d been forced to cut the connection completely.

It hadn’t been so bad, back when I could see the effects of her interference on the screen - I was willing to bet she really had helped that one hunter catch a deer. It was just like her to waste precious bits of energy just to help a girl have a good meal on her date…

Though I guess it could just as easily have been chance. Not like my Goddess was anywhere near all knowing enough to plan for every eventuality. In fact, she was actually something of a ditz…

Loved her dearly, though.

Still, considering the lack of communication, I think my surprise at the door’s opening was understandable - as well as my momentary fear. What if it was Luci, I wondered. What if she was here to take me hostage against my daughter? Would that work? Would my daughter even care? Did I want her to care, if it would mean her being harmed?

All sorts of dreadful thoughts ran through my head, in the instant it took my eyes to register and recognize the woman standing in the doorway. A young woman of twenty one, in a red shirt that looked a little worse for wear and a black bottom that barely covered anything. With white hair, like mine, and purple eyes so much like her dam’s. 

She stared at me, wide eyed, her mouth working but no words coming out. After a moment of this she closed her jaw, and tried again.

“Hello, Mo-” was all she got out before I was upon her, my hands wrapping around her back as I bent forward, and then leaned back, lifting her in the air and twirling her around.

“Devilla!” I cried, undisugised joy in my voice as I spun her about. “You’re here! To rescue me I hope? And not be a prisoner? I should probably have checked that first, but… oh, you’re here, and I love you, and you’re here!”

“I… tha’s…” she stammered, her face red. I lowered her to the ground, reluctantly letting go and backing up so that I could get a better look - and oh, what a treat those red cheeks of hers were! My adorable daughter, blushing under her own mother’s attention for the very first time in her life.

That was… a sobering thought, actually. But one that I shrugged off a moment later, in favor of smiling at her.

“And where are your girlfriends?” I asked. “I was so looking forward to judging… I mean meeting them.”

“J-judging?” Devilla asked, horror evident in her voice. “You can’t… I mean, they’re my… they’re good… you can’t just…”

I laughed. “I’m joking, dear. …At least mostly. It’s true that I don’t think anyone is good enough for my precious darling, but it’s also true that you’re old enough to be making your own decisions - and I must say, if anyone could be considered good enough, I suppose Abigail would count… and maybe Lucy, as well.”

“Maybe Lucy?” Devilla demanded, now flabbergasted. “I’ll have you know she’s a hard working, good girl, and just because she’s the Heroine-”

“Oh, it’s not that,” I interrupted. “It’s the orange eyes. Reminds me too much of your dam - Lucy’s eyes are almost the same color as her hair. The fact that she’s human, and born from those two doesn’t help… Your dam was pretty close to her mother, you know? And meeting them… Well, it was the beginning of the end for her, and in turn my plans to have her raise you. Though, considering the events that followed from there it’s hard to be too upset about it…”

“Upset about… what? My dam’s death?” Devilla demanded, with a frown. “Do you… not care? It sounds almost as if you disliked her…”

“Dislike? No… it was more… disinterest, I suppose, for the most part? I picked her as my wife because I thought she’d be a good parent, and because I hoped you’d inherit some of her optimism over my… well, I prefer to call it realism, but some people have been known to call it pessimism… Petty pessimism, even. Just because my motto is, ‘if I’m going down, you’re coming with me!’ It’s… Okay, maybe deserved, but quite frankly Luci deserved every ounce of pettiness I could muster. Another reason I married your dam was just to annoy her…”

“So you didn’t care for her at all?” Devilla asked. “Then why is it a bad thing that she reminds you of my dam?”

“Because it reminds me of my marriage,” I replied, honestly. “It was… unpleasant. Not through any fault of Issa, mind you. She just always wanted more than I could give - literally more than I could give, with the geas. It… didn’t exactly allow for familial communication. I couldn’t ‘let her in’ no matter how many times she begged. Couldn’t tell her how I was really feeling… I was compelled to get married, and have a child, and I made the best of it, but… the entire time I just felt trapped. I know it’s not exactly fair for me to take it out on Issa’s memory, but… I don’t know. When I compare it to what I have with my Goddess… Well, it can’t even compare.”

“...You really love Liz, then?” she asked. I could see the caution in her eyes. The uncertainty. She’d just discovered that I hadn’t loved her dam, and now she had to deal with the fact that I’d already moved on to someone new. Someone better - not as a person, mind you. Just better for me.

“I do,” I confirmed. “I gave my heart to her, and her to me - just you have given yours to your girlfriends. Though I guess you’ve got more of a split going on, with the whole polycule situation… good luck with that. I’d love to give advice, but it’s almost all guaranteed to be terrible so… ask at your own risk?”

“...Thanks… I guess?” she said, with an awkward smile.

I gave her an awkward smile right back, unsure of where to go from there. It was… Different than I thought it would be, to see her. Not that I knew what I’d expected. Laughter and tears and many more hugs and cheek kisses, I guess? But… I was still a stranger to her. One that looked just about the same age as her, no less.

It was probably going to take time for her to really wrap her head around the idea of me being her mother… but that was fine. I had plenty of time to wait.

“Now, why don’t you go get your girlfriends so that I can start judging… I mean, so that I can meet them in a totally innocuous way?”

She glared at me - actually glared at me! Her mom! What a rebellious phase! One of the many things I’d missed, up in heaven! - then looked away.

“I thought you might want to talk to me first, a bit more,” she said. “But if you’d rather-”

“No, no, no way!” I protested. “I’d love to talk to you more! I just thought you might find it a bit awkward just dealing with me…”

“Well… maybe a little,” she confessed. “But… I don’t know… you’re my mother, aren’t you? Unless you don’t consider yourself such… I wouldn’t blame you, if so - you never got a chance to raise me, probably had no choice but to birth me with the geas, were forced into a loveless marriage just to have me - and then I went and almost threw away all your hard work… Arguably it wasn’t even me who lived up to your expectations. Not really. It was the memories of my past life that made it possible, after all - your daughter plus. I’m not… I’m not even sure if I qualify as your daughter, if you think about it like-”

“That’s enough,” I interrupted, gently but firmly, before placing my hands on Devilla’s shoulders. “You are my daughter, and I love you. I just have no idea what to say or how to interact with you! Other than hugs, I guess? And a lot of affirmations, because I can tell you definitely need them… but for now, for real, why don’t you get your girlfriends so we can all meet up as a family and… I don’t know. Discuss what comes next?”

“What comes next?” Devilla parroted. “Yeah! You’re probably gonna wanna go back to Solla, right? Lead the lands towards peace alongside your girlfriends?”

“I’m… not sure I’m the one to lead,” my precious daughter murmured, looking away from me. “The people don’t exactly like me. Surely you would-”

“Be a terrible choice?” I interrupted. “I don’t care about the tower or its people nearly as much as you do, Devilla. In fact, I doubt you’ll find anyone among your ancestors who does. Not when we were all forced to fight and protect it against our wills…. But you? You actually care. And even if you’re not the best leader, you’ve got people who can take up the slack! …Plus, me coming back would totally throw questions about succession into the air, considering none of your predecessors are dead.”

“None but one!” came a voice from the doorway. A cheerful Liz stood there, smiling brightly at me. Behind her stood Abigail, who looked resigned, and Lucy who gave me an apologetic look. I greeted all of them with a smile, to let them know I was fine.

“And what do you mean by that, my Goddess?” I asked, a hint of danger in my tone. Not that my dear fiancee noticed. 

“I took care of Luci. She’s gone, now. Also did a big speech to the world - you know, telling people that the church doesn’t really represent my will, that the leadership was rotten, that the Heroines - except for Lucy - were mostly just monsters who slaughtered way too many people, and that I’m officially announcing Devilla as the carrier of my will on Solla! …Also, to call me Liz.”

For a moment, there was silence. Then, Abigail, Devilla and Lucy all started to speak at once - but a cough from me was enough to silence them. I think they - unlike my dear Goddess - could see the anger on my face.

“So let me get this straight… you just made an announcement, upending the world order, without consulting me or anyone else…?”

“Um… yes…?” my Goddess replied, backing up a step. “I know I’m not supposed to make big decisions like that without you, but… Uh….”

I moved forward two steps, then three, closing the distance between us so that I could reach out and grab her.

Then I pulled her into a hug. “Next time you’re in pain, and hurting? Talk to me! Rather than throwing your step-daughter’s life and maybe the world into chaos just to buy yourself some time to perfect that false smile…”

“...Sorry,” she whispered. Softly. “Did I um… mess up that badly?”

“We’ll have to go over what you said,” I murmured. “But… Maybe.”

“Probably,” Abigail muttered, off to the side.

“I’m… scared you might have,” Lucy admitted.

Devilla just groaned.

As for me? I smiled at my Goddess - my Liz - and took her hands. “Come on. Let’s… all sit down and work through this together.”

~~~

Author's Notes

I'm not sure how I feel about having the final chapter come in part through a new character's eyes... but she seemed like the right PoV for the scene? And I didn't initially think this was going to be the last chapter... Just... As I wrote it, I realized... there's not a lot more to say?

Um. Stay tuned for the epilogue, I guess? And an announcement about the intended sequel....

I'm kinda in shock right now? I've never... finished anything this big before... Wow.

(Unless someone has a good idea for one more chapter? To end it on Devilla? Unsure...)