[BGE] 138 - Guess Who's Back?

As it turned out, it was very easy to find ways to spend three weeks in the city. In fact, in a city as large and magical as Jelor City, three weeks was nowhere near enough. Just the Grays’ favorite restaurants and shops would take a full month to get through, let alone the seeming millions of tourist attractions. There were museums, art galleries, gardens, theaters, circuses, and more. 

With that knowledge, rather than visiting any of these places, Elise decided to spend her first week in the city doing absolutely nothing. She lay in bed and read books and munched on snacks all day, only leaving occasionally to greet people and eat snacks. Sure, there were lots of things to do, but if she couldn’t get them done in the time she had, why rush? She could always do them later. Right now, what she needed wasn’t more things to do. It was less. 

After months of doing nothing but grind, grind, grind, she needed a mental break. Especially since most of that work was social work. Elise was an introvert through and through, and the forced socializing to level up her social skills was draining in a way she didn’t know was possible. Staying locked in her room alone was her way of recharging.

At the end of the week, she finally felt refreshed and ready to start easing back into socializing, which was perfect timing, because it was on that morning that a letter arrived in the mail for her. It was addressed to Eleanor Gray, from Count Frederic Constantin, which she knew was Freddy’s public name. After not hearing from him for over two months, she nearly tore it in half in her eagerness to get to the contents.

At first, the words on the page looked like nonsense gibberish, but she felt a slight twinge of aether reaching out to her that she assumed to be an identity check before the letters shuffled around and formed intelligible Fey words.

Dear Elise,

I apologize for vanishing like that. I’m afraid it was unavoidable. I was in a location where outward communication was impossible, and contractual obligations prevented me from leaving until I had completed it. However, I have returned, and I will be attending the Ostra meeting tonight. I see that you found my little note, so I’m certain that you have questions for me, and I would be happy to answer them for you. I have some questions that I was hoping you could help me with as well.

See you soon,

Freddy

P.S. We will have some special guests at the Ostra meeting, so do not come in either your ordinary human or changeling forms. At the very least, you need to change your coloration.

Elise was a little annoyed that two months of silence was broken by a letter that was barely a paragraph, but at least it promised face to face communication. It also promised something interesting at the Ostra meeting. She had been to the previous two Ostra meetings at least briefly to keep an ear to the ground, so she had a decent guess as to who those special guests might have been. Humanoids.

After the initial hubbub around the forced dissolution of the Blood Syndicate, news about Ostra had somewhat died down. Of course, it was way too big to completely die out, but Ostra had not made any further large public moves, so it was more of a background thing for a while, at least to the public.

Behind the scenes, of course, there was plenty happening. The revelation that an organization of powerful, sapient monsters was living and meeting right beneath the most populated city in the world wasn’t something that could go undealt with. People like Nick were working directly on fostering diplomatic relations, and monsters from Ostra were doing their best to learn human customs so they wouldn’t make any mistakes when they finally met. It made sense that this would be at least a little bit of a culmination of that effort.

That also left her with the minor dilemma of picking a new disguise for the meeting. It was a dilemma she was somewhat grateful for though. It was generally a social faux pas to enter an Ostra meeting in anything other than her base form, and she wasn’t particularly eager to show off her new base form, even to a bunch of equally unsettling monsters. Having an excuse to show up as anything else was more than welcome.

Elise took the letter to the kitchen, grabbed a box of cookies that one of the Grays had bought at some shop somewhere, then went back to her room. She left a gold coin on the counter where the cookies had been as an apology. She had unfortunately slept through breakfast, and with everyone else now either at school, at work, or running errands, she was too lazy to make herself a real meal. Besides, it wasn’t like she really needed to meet any nutritional standards anymore. Her body seemed to sustain itself just fine no matter what she ate, and with {Transformation}, she could appear as skinny as she wanted.

She fully intended on being productive and figuring out her disguise when she got back to her room, and maybe even doing some soul meditation, but then she saw the second to last book of the series she was reading, and the next thing she knew, the cookies were gone, she had completed the series, and it was the middle of the afternoon. 

Oops.

She had a direct channel straight to the Ostra meeting in the basement, and even if she didn’t, it wasn’t like she had a firm deadline to meet. She could show up late with no penalty. Still, with Freddy finally returning and “special guests” coming, she wanted to get there a bit early.

After a brief fashion show in front of the mirror, she decided to take inspiration from some of the people she had seen at Registration day for her disguise. She copied the dark and mysterious vibe from the masked woman, going with an all black dress and even some lacy gloves and a hat, and then she also copied Samantha’s bright silver eyes. The end result was a bit more striking than she originally intended, but she didn’t dislike it. To complete the effect though, she decided to make herself taller. Not quite giant-sized, but she went tall enough that even Nick would have to tilt his head up to look her in the eyes.

Satisfied that she understood her disguise, she went back to her default form as she made her way through the house to the basement. Bianca had returned from wherever she had been in the morning, and Sophie was back from school, and Elise didn’t want either of them to see her disguise. Sophie already pestered her enough asking her to help her model different outfits, and she didn’t want to throw any fuel on that fire.

She was stopped by both of them on her way down, but a simple “I’m going to the basement,” was enough to get them to back down. Technically, Sophie was actually allowed at the Ostra meetings, given that she was Irylax’s apprentice and that Irylax was on Freddy’s level in terms of importance, but while Sophie was interested, Nick was protective, and Irylax didn’t see any point in it. For now, at least, Sophie would be staying home from the meetings.”

Once she went through the thoroughly locked door, she changed back to her disguise as she activated her wings and floated down the stairs. As she travelled, she idly wondered if her disguise would be enough to fool someone like Freddy. He knew her aether signature well enough that he could make letters and other devices that responded only to her, but perhaps if he wasn’t paying attention too closely, she might be able to sneak up on him.

Well, no. She had a suspicion that their aetheric connection was a bit deeper than most, so that likely wouldn’t work. If she used it with {Don’t Look At Me, Peasants!} though… It was definitely worth a shot.

Wow, Oberon has really been rubbing off on me, she thought, realizing that she was currently planning a prank.

That dampened her spirits slightly, but as she flew further, she decided that she would try it anyway. If nothing else, it would be a good test of the limits of her Skills. If it was entertaining on top of that… well, was that really a problem?

Unlike most other entrances to the Ostra meetingplace, Elise’s personal entrance was unguarded. She found that a bit surprising, but she had also gotten a brief rundown of the enchantments on the tunnel, and knew that it was possibly the most dangerous place to try to invade. There were so many checks and traps at random points throughout, and so many alarms and things that by the time anyone could manage to safely navigate it, Ostra would long have been notified that someone was going through Elise’s special passage and would be prepared to greet them.

The lack of a guard had the bonus benefit that Elise could activate {Don’t Look At Me, Peasants!} before anyone could see her, meaning that when she entered the main ballroom, no one even knew that she had arrived. As she walked in, she noted with a smile that the Skill was working beautifully. Not only was no one acknowledging her presence, no one seemed to even notice that the door had opened. She walked carefully through the room, intentionally getting close to a few monsters she knew to be 8th tier, but none of them reacted. Whether that was because her Skill was working, or because they simply weren’t paying attention and her contained aether wasn’t forcibly drawing it, she didn’t know, but she was emboldened by it.

She loaded a plate with meat and chose an empty table to sit at and start eating. She didn’t see Freddy anywhere, nor did she see any of the special guests, so she had nothing better to do. While she ate, a group of insectoid monsters brought their own plates to her table and sat down and started talking as if she wasn’t there. She found it endlessly amusing how they never noticed her, despite clearly treating her chair as though it was occupied. However, nothing they talked about was of any interest to her, so she soon stood up and walked away, looking for something else to occupy her time until something more interesting happened.

She walked around the entire room twice, observing the different attendees from her stealth, and occasionally pausing to eavesdrop on particularly interesting conversations. Apparently, one of the succubi was getting romantically involved with a carpenter, and she was beginning to feel guilty about leading him on and wondered if she should just tell him the truth. All her friends strongly advised against this, and advised that the lovesick succubus break off their relationship entirely, but Elise secretly rooted for her. She was always a fan of disguised romance tropes. 

At the end of her second round, she noticed the attention of the room turn toward the far door, and smiled as she saw why. Freddy had finally returned. As he returned, she also noticed how much aether he had. Unlike Oberon, he did not keep his aether secret. He did keep it contained, but within his body, Elise could sense him like a beacon in the night. He had incomparably more than her.

Max level tier 9s are really something else, she thought.

As he walked in, he greeted the people who walked up to greet him, but she also noticed him looking around the room. Perhaps it was presumptuous of her, but she assumed that he was looking for her, and was silently elated when his eyes passed over her position multiple times. She started circling around, hoping to sneak up on him from behind, but before she got even halfway, he looked up again, and this time, he looked directly at her.

Elise froze, hoping that perhaps he was looking at something else, but when he smiled and winked before going back to his normal greetings, she sighed, knowing she had been found out. While she didn’t deactivate her stealth skill, she did stop her sneaking, and waited patiently for Freddy to make his rounds. After a few minutes, once most everyone who wanted to say “hi” had gotten to him, he waved a few more people off, then floated up into the air while clearing his throat. His voice was projected across the room as he did this, drawing everyone’s attention up to him.

“Attention, everyone,” he said. “Yes, I am back. I’m sorry to have been gone for so long. But, now is no time for pleasantries. We have important business! In twenty five minutes, we will have some important guests arriving. Those guests are humanoids.”

There was some muttering and grumbling all around, but it was quelled as he spoke again.

“Do not worry. They were teleported inside, and have no idea exactly where we are. Additionally, they have all signed contracts of non-violence and secrecy, so there is no chance of anything unfortunate happening. That is, of course, assuming that you all are behaving well.

“In keeping with that, I must regretfully inform you all that some of you will need to leave the room at this time. Please note that this is not personal. It is simply imperative that those present when our guests arrived are only the most well-trained and well-adjusted monsters we have in order to leave a good impression. First impressions are very important, and the fate of Ostra hangs in the balance. If you are one of the ones who must leave, please don’t take it as mistrust. Use it for motivation. Work hard so that next time, you won’t have to leave.

“In a moment, the Chairs will be moving around the room, privately informing each of you whether you may leave or stay. If you need to leave, please don’t make a big fuss over it. It is nothing to be ashamed of. Those who are allowed to stay were all in your same position before. You can be like them too. You just simply aren’t there yet. Should you choose to refuse anyway, you will be forcibly ejected. I’d rather not have to do that to anyone, so please, don’t make a fuss.

“Now, I have some business to attend to in my office, so I will be out for a bit, but once I am done, and once our guests depart later tonight, I will be back to being wholly yours for the remainder of the gathering. Thank you, and have a wonderful night.”

He descended back to the ground as conversations started up all over the room, the Chairs spread out to whisper in the ears of the unfortunately inexperienced monsters. Meanwhile, Elise heard a familiar voice in her head.

“Come to my office,” said Freddy. “I believe we should have enough time. If not, we can talk more later.”

“Alright,” Elise sent back.

She left her stealth skill active to avoid drawing attention as she circled around the room again to meet Freddy by the door to his office. Somehow, the old demon timed his arrival perfectly with hers so that even though he looked like he was only opening the door for himself, Elise was able to slip past without anyone else noticing. Only when the door closed behind them did she disable it.

“How did you notice me?” she asked.

“Aetheric stealth skills are powerful, especially for you, but when you’re as old and experienced as me, you come to learn a few tricks. I can teach you the one I just used later, but I assume you have questions you want to know before then.”

“Yes,” Elise said, nodding.

He let her into the office, and she took a seat on the couch as he sat across from her.

“Well, ask away,” he said, spreading his arms.

“What happened to the warg.”

“The warg has a name,” he started. “It’s Walter. And he has been appropriately punished for his actions.”

“Punished how?”

Elise couldn’t imagine what kind of punishment the warg had gotten to make Freddy consider justice served, and she was very curious to see the answer.

“I am a firm believer in rehabilitation in most cases,” he said. “I think that death is rarely a good punishment. There are some cases where it is, unfortunately, unavoidable, but for situations like Walter’s, I believe it to be unnecessary. He is no longer a risk to anyone, and he is growing and maturing every day. It won’t be long before he is able to attend meetings normally without me watching his every move to keep him and the people around him safe. Therefore, I decided to choose a more reasonable punishment. 

“Elise, what would you say that Walter’s crimes are?”

“He murdered the Grays.”

“Correct! He murdered the Gray parents. It was quite tragic, and for some, unforgivable. However, he had no idea what he had done wrong. In his mind, he was simply hunting, and they were the prey. So, how do you get him to understand what he had done?”

He paused waiting for Elise to answer.

“I don’t know.”

“Empathy,” said Freddy. “Words aren’t enough. He might logically understand that killing is bad, but without being able to empathize with the victims, or more importantly, the families of the victims, it’s impossible to truly understand why.”

As Freddy talked, Elise felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She wasn’t sure why, but she was getting an unpleasant feeling. 

“So, I gave him a family.”

“You what?”

“I gave him a family. Well, forced it upon him is more accurate. I gave him a pet to take care of. A small rabbit, just like yourself. I even gave it a name. I forced him to take care of it. Eventually, he came to enjoy its company. He would play with it, and take it hunting with him, and even helped it to evolve twice. By this point, he had a familial bond with it, which was my goal, so at that point, I killed it.”

“You killed it?”

“Yes, he was quite devastated. I wanted him to understand the pain that you and your half elf adopted siblings went through. It was rather effective, if I do say so myself.”

Elise didn’t respond. Her mind had short circuited. She had wanted revenge on the warg, but this? It just seemed wrong. When she finally recovered enough to speak, she said the first four words that came to mind.

“Freddy, what the fuck?!”