17

At some point that night, I fell asleep.

And…

I had that dream again.

The field of white flowers. The black sky. The pulse of the ground.

The silence.

It's the first time in a while. I'd almost forgotten.

I haven't been in a real fight in a while. Technically, my confrontation with Nin earlier was the closest I've come to a life-or-death battle since Charybdis.

I won, easily even, but if I'd made one false move… well, he ripped up my knee with the barest hint of a touch during our first encounter. I don't want to think about the ending where he doesn't miss.

Still, that dream…

I feel like I've been there before. Why does it feel so familiar?

-=-=-=-

Late Evening

The Maj Inn

Xerxes, Eastern Empire

Murphy's Law.

Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. You know the cliché.

Lesser known is the more-overarching cousin of Murphy's Law, known as Finagle's Law.

The perversity of the universe always tends toward a maximum. In other words, goods things happen, so that the universe may lull you into a false sense of security.

And then everything will go wrong.

Tanya found herself lulled into a false sense of security reminisce of this upon returning to her and Mary's shared inn room.

So naturally, it was as she finally reached something that passingly resembled relaxed and calm that the universe decided to punch her in the gut.

"Can women love other women?"

Tanya, mid sip from her canteen, spit water all over their room's lone desk. The sound it made was frankly disgusting, a wet splat as it sloshed over the hardwood surface.

But that was nowhere near the paramount concern currently on Tanya's mind.

"What-" She coughed violently, liquid trailing from the corners of her mouth, "The fuck?"

"Shit- I'm sorry." Mary pulled a handkerchief from her belt and offered it over.

Tanya waved her off, wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Fine, it's fine. Just," She took a breath, "What could have possibly brought this up?"

Mary hesitated.

Oh boy. Tanya resisted the urge to leave and pretend she'd never asked.

"I was… I think that Eve woman who declared herself my friend was actually flirting with me. But, I don't know. I mean, I never thought about it before. Can women like other women, you know, in that way?"

I… think I might be the worst person for this. Now, Tanya was actively regretting not following her initial urge. For several reasons.

This was an absolutely incredible conversation for Mary to be having with Tanya of all people. After all, Tanya was well known among certain individuals in Tempest as a lover of women. "Lover" being used with the textbook definition of the word, by the way.

So, the irony of this conversation was not lost on her at all.

If the world was fair, the best person for the job would fulfill every role. Unfortunately, I am the one who is here, in this room, at this exact moment in time, as opposed to Shuna, or perhaps Rimuru- no, Rimuru has countless people pining after him and doesn't know it. If anything, Sue's mother should… well, that's obviously out, as is anyone else from our previous world. Shit, I might actually be the best person for this.

And wasn't that just swell.

"And then, I did think about it. It- there was this odd warmth in my chest, and- and I liked it? I just, I don't know." Mary looked away, with a vulnerable expression that Tanya in a million years would not have expected to see from her former enemy, "Am I allowed to like it? Is- is something wrong with me? I've never even-"

I'll be the first to admit that the more emotional side of human existence is not my strong suit. What the hell do I do here? Okay, how about this; just be straightforward. Be blunt. Brutal honesty has never failed me before.

"Shuna and I shared a bed for the past few months."

"I- huh?"

Too blunt maybe? Tanya hid a wince. New plan. Let's go with some basic reassurance. Form a connection… or something.

"What I'm saying is, the things you're feeling are perfectly normal. There's nothing wrong with you."

I genuinely wish I was still fighting Nin right now.

Tanya bore the look of someone distinctly uncomfortable yet resigned to her fate of discussing the apparent gay awakening of one Mary Sue.

"Women can like and love other women." Tanya reached out a hand, awkwardly patting Mary twice on the shoulder before pulling away, "There's nothing weird or unnatural about it. I understand what you're going through, and I assure you that everything will be alright."

There we go, see? There's a connection, and similar circumstances. Someone who can relate to your situation is comforting, yes? So please calm down and stop talking, so we can go about our evening like normal.

"Oh." Mary blinked. "Okay…"

She seemed confused. An understandable reaction, this was a huge revelation she seemed to have stumbled upon, so it made sense that-

"Shuna?"

Yeah, alright. Fuck me, I guess.

"Not just Shuna, but yes. Sex is both a great stress reliever and excellent exercise."

Okay, now I'm the one who needs to stop talking.

Mary flushed to the tips of her ears.

"S-sex?!"

Apparently, she hadn't quite caught the full connotations of 'sharing a bed' until just then.

"You mean, you and Shuna are- are…"

Tanya sighed, fully resigned to her fate and hating every moment of it.

"Having sex, yes that's what I said. I understand you were a sheltered child, but at this point it's a little ridiculous." Tanya's expression, if possible, dropped even more, as another possibility presented itself. "…Please tell me someone gave you the Talk already. I am not giving you the Talk. Do you still believe in storks and baby Cupid's raining arrows?"

"I know what sex is!" Mary said hotly, though it was debatable whether there was more heat in her words or in her face.

"Good, that means this conversation can end."

Tanya ran a hand down her face, suddenly feeling like she'd aged a couple thousand years. Would she have white hair if she looked in a mirror right then? That's how it felt. A quick glance at her side bangs confirmed that it hadn't.

Maybe one day, but not now.

"Bad enough when I had Lotte ask me about it."

"Uh, Lotte?" Mary still resembled a tomato more than a person, so it was a wonder she managed to dredge up the conversation skills necessary for that question.

Tanya couldn't even find it in herself to be amused, so exhausting this conversation had been.

"A member of the 203rd, about your age when we first met. Don't concern yourself."

Tanya turned away, looking at the desk with a grimace. Water from her spit take earlier still covered the wooden surface, little rivulets slowly trickling towards the edges. Internally grateful she hadn't placed her journal there quite yet, she waved a hand, sending a thin layer of her own water magic over the surface and gathering it all in the center.

"Take a moment to compose yourself and get your head right." With a flick of her wrist, the water swirled into a ball and flew to the palm of her hand. "We've got work to do. Bring me the journal you've recorded the runes in whenever you're ready to begin."

A quick flex of her fingers had a ball of blue fire appear in the same space as the liquid, evaporating it almost immediately. With that done, Tanya stepped over to her bed, reaching under the pillow and pulling out a worn leather journal she'd requested from Rimuru just a week after her reincarnation.

It wasn't a diary. Not that she would be ashamed of having a diary or anything. It was more of a record, featuring lists, drawings, and future goals, among other bits and pieces of potentially useful things.

The habit of tentative record-keeping was one she'd gotten into near the end of her tenure in her previous world. The reason for this was simple. Idly, during a lull in the front, Tanya had thought back to her first life. Of her first childhood, and the experiences that had shaped her.

And she found that she couldn't remember the name of her elementary school. At least, not at first, though it had come back to her after a few minutes of dedicated thought.

Tanya was not one for sentimentality. But the thought of forgetting her original life, of forgetting who she was… it was mildly concerning. Thus, journaling. Her ideals, her thoughts, her goals, all of it found a place in her journals.

It was calming. A form of meditation, in a way.

The effects were not the most relevant thing right now.

Tanya recorded what she considered relevant. There was a sketched map of Tempest among the first few pages. A folded map of the main continent right after that. Dwargon had a few pages. The Eastern Empire had a few as well.

Largely thanks to Xerxes.

Tanya flipped to a set of blank pages, sitting at the desk and reaching over to her travel pack lying beside her bed to pull out a few pens of various colors.

Inwardly thanking Rimuru for his ability to create a plethora of modern objects through his rather unique set of Skills, Tanya went to work, quickly adding a few notes to a very rough sketch of Xerxes she'd made in her journal after arriving. Then, she drew a similar sketch on an adjacent page, this time marking the tunnels she'd spent the past few hours before coming back traversing.

-=-

Yeah I drew- I mean, Tanya drew these. Yeah.

-=-

She was just adding the finishing touches to a few more sketches and Xerxes related notes when Mary wandered back over.

"Here." Mary stood at her shoulder, markedly more composed than before. Though there was still the faintest hint of red to her cheeks. "There's a page for each gate."

"Thanks."

Tanya took the notebook, flipping past the first couple pages that were either blank, had scribbled out messes that were no doubt earlier attempts at rune transcription, or featured random and rather unskilled sketches of buildings and something that looked like a dog, if you were to cross your eyes, tilt your head, and squint the slightest bit.

"Mary Sue" was also written on the inside of the cover, multiple times in a variety of styles, ranging from all caps to a poor man's cursive to bubble letters.

Tanya made no mention of this, deciding to be nice for once and spare Mary's likely still bruised self-esteem.

She flipped another page.

Here we go.

"Hm." Tanya pressed the two sides of the notebook flat, stretching the inner spine so that it would stay open without her needing to hold it. "Well, this is concerning."

"What is it?"

Tanya stared at the first page of actual relevance – helpfully labeled at the top with a big, bolded NORTH – with a look of mild annoyance she usually reserved for Gabiru and his ilk, or Mary when she asked a stupid question, or Gobta whenever he acted like himself, or Treyni when she was being particularly… well, you get the picture.

"It's not just runes. If it were just runes, this would be a lot simpler." Tanya sighed. "But no, I can never have nice things, can I? At least I'm not totally in the dark. Have a look at this symbol."

She pointed near the center of the page. Mary leaned in with clear interest.

"What is it?"

"This represents quicksilver. Or the element mercury if we're being literal." She flipped through the other pages, "It's at the west and east gates, and there's multiple of it. And then there's this symbol, Brimstone, or sulfur. This one is at the north and south gates and is also reoccurring."

Tanya slid the notebook up the desk a bit, pulling her own journal over to make a few more notes.

"Gold and silver appear as well, though it's the more stylized version for the latter. That's the sun and moon symbols, by the way, the former at the north and south gates and the latter at the west and east." She flipped between pages, swapping her gaze between her journal and Mary's notebook every couple of seconds. "It is also worth noting that the city of Xerxes itself resembles the less stylized version of the Gold alchemical symbol, though I'm inclined to see this as unrelated."

"…Okay. Why do you know so much about this? Runes, too, now that we're on the subject." Mary resisted the urge to call the other woman weird for this, out of respect to the seriousness of the situation.

"Once upon a time in a previous life, I found myself with plenty of free time and no friends to fill it. I happen to look into chemistry and its history during a few such evenings of freedom."

Well, now Mary felt bad for even thinking about calling Tanya weird.

And wasn't that a thought? Even months into their mutual reincarnation, it was still odd to take a step back and realize she and her former mortal enemy were now allies and friends.

Does it ever drive you crazy, just how quickly the night changes?

Mary tuned back in, just as Tanya continued speaking.

"At a different time, a month or so ago, I visited the Armed Nation of Dwargon to meet with King Gazel and his council in Rimuru's stead, and he has a massive library. If you can believe it, quite a few of those books were over runes."

"Why did Rimuru send you instead of going himself."

"He was being lazy." Tanya's face scrunched up, though not in relation to her last comment, "There are a few alchemy-related symbols I don't recognize. Some of the runes as well. Even taking this into account, it's pretty clear that these four arrays are incomplete, alchemical symbols and all."

She glanced at Mary, "Are you sure you wrote down everything?"

"I know I did." Mary shook her head, frowning, "I triple checked everything when I was at each gate."

The assurance with which she said those words were enough for Tanya to tentatively believe her.

"That's odd then. Some of these could work, poorly, but they're still missing key connecting symbols to be fully functional. The right shape isn't there at any point, either. It's like..."

Tanya blinked.

"Actually, these four arrays would work together pretty well, now that I think about it. In fact, they have the right runes. I'm not as sure about the symbols, but the ones I know are... they're at the correct cardinal points."

No...

"Is the circle that important?"

"Well, it doesn't specifically need to be a circle," Tanya tried to ignore the sinking feeling in her gut, to no avail, "But a runic array requires a defined form to properly conduct whatever purpose it is intended for. The shape adds structure and marks the runes off from the rest of the world. A circle just happens to be a particularly stable configuration. A triangle is often used as well, though it ultimately depends on the type of magic. Thus, the runic circle. Even with non-rune symbols filling in gaps, that would still be the case."

"So, the arrays need a structure? A circle…" Mary put a hand to her chin.

"Isn't Xerxes a circle though?" Her eyes widened as soon as she said it. "Hey, you don't think..."

"I think fucking hate this place. Yes, Xerxes itself is almost certainly the runic circle." Tanya finished, an odd look on her face. "No, it's not just runes. The proper term for this is a ritual circle."

"But for what? The scale is way too big, right? Wouldn't the magic or energy or whatever required be insanely high?"

"It depends. If it these were pure runic arrays, and thus a runic circle, then the magicules required would be astronomical, yes. But it's more than that. There are also alchemical symbols, with various altered kanji and Arabic numerals tying everything together." Tanya's brow furrowed. "Something about the way these all tie together is oddly familiar."

Tanya flipped to another page, quickly sketching a circle with the main symbols and runes at each cardinal point. Then, she connected them through the circle itself, adding lines and numbers at certain points with an odd frown on her face.

The numbers… the way they connect almost reminds me of formulae…

"…I'm not sure, but I don't think the cost matters. Whatever the purpose of these arrays, they wouldn't exist at all if they couldn't be used. What matters is the purpose of the whole thing."

Tanya sighed.

"Unfortunately, my knowledge of alchemical symbols is ultimately limited to manga and the history chemistry, both of which I am woefully inexperienced in beyond passing interest once upon a time."

"Manga…?"

"So, the best I can do is take what I can figure out from the individual symbols and numbers and try to piece together a meaning from that." Tanya grimaced. "Unfortunately, that means I need to catalogue the meaning of all of them, and not just the most important ones. And of course, some of these mean completely different things when placed next to one another, or above, or below, or at a different cardinal point…"

Her head dropped to the table with a quiet thunk.

Mary put a hand on her shoulder in an increasingly less rare display of solidarity.

"…I'll get you a coffee or something."

"That would be appreciated."

-=-=-=-

The Next Day

The Maj Inn

Xerxes, Eastern Empire

Knock. Knock.

Tanya jolted in her seat, her cramped back muscles loudly and violently expressing to her why this was a bad idea.

It certainly hadn't been the first time she'd fallen asleep at a desk, though it would never get any easier.

Tanya glanced around, rubbing at her bleary eyes with a hand while absentmindedly closing the journal and notebook she'd spent the better past of the morning pressing her sleeping face against. As she did, a blanket that hadn't been there when she'd accidentally fallen asleep fell off her shoulders.

Sue wasn't here, she noted while stretching her arms.

What time is it?

Knock. Knock.

Tanya blinked, every sense and instinct in her body abruptly shifting back to 100% as realization struck her.

Why would she knock? That's not Sue.

Tanya rose, fortunately – or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it – was still in her somewhat dirty 'adventurer' garb. She had spare clothes, both reinforced and normal, in her bag, but that wasn't the most pressing thing on her mind right now.

She made slowly for the door, not bothering to slide on her boots or button up her overcoat. Instead, she reached beside her, to her belt.

Knock. Knock.

Tanya slowly opened the door, her other hand grasping the handle of a combat knife and flooding with enough magical power to level the whole city block, buzzing in the flesh, blood, and bones of her fingers.

"Yes?"

A man was there. Dressed in red to the nines, towering and powerful in magic and frame. He was also familiar.

I ran into him yesterday. Tanya quickly catalogued, also taking note of his body language and approximate level of hostility. She also ran over Magic Sense real quick, frowning mentally as her tracer spell didn't show up.

"…Tasha." The man spoke. "That is you, correct?"

Oddly enough, he lacked both threatening body language and any level of open hostility.

Tanya did not share this trait. Something about this man set her on edge. The air about him, his magic…

Even suppressed, there was no denying the sheer weight of it. It reminded her of Charybdis, in a way. Or Demon Lord Carrion, who'd she'd only had the briefest of encounters with.

"Who's asking?"

Tanya's magic buzzed even louder, begging to be released. She did not let it, the control over her own power absolute. Her grip tightened, then loosened as she remembered how unhelpful it would be to crush the handle of her largest combat knife.

"Please calm down. I have no ill intent." The man held up a hand, either not noticing or tactfully ignoring the way Tanya tensed at the motion, "I am Octavius Valentin, the Second Head of Scylla. The First Head has asked me to invite you to a meeting."

"A meeting?" Tanya narrowed her eyes. "Explain."

He stared at her impassively.

"…The First Head said, I quote, 'Tell her that Scylla wishes to parley' end quote." Octavius lowered his hand, "Scylla wishes to negotiate with you."

Tanya flexed her fingers slightly along the handle of her knife. Along the edge of the blade, a specific runic array, recently carved as of two nights ago, began to glow.

"And I should trust your word on this? I won't insult your intelligence by acting coy; this sounds like a poorly hidden trap."

"This is no trap." He shook his head, "Merely a negotiation between yourself and Scylla. I will guarantee your safety myself, if need be. Your power is intriguing; it would not do well to my interest for you to perish unnecessarily."

Octavius blinked slowly.

"…What did you just do?"

Good to know that works on someone other than Sue.

"Just a little something I picked up recently."

Did I scare them that badly? I nearly kill one of their members and they come running to the negotiation table. I wonder why that is? Why not retaliate? Not that I'm complaining, mind you, but this seems odd. Peace and rationality are usually not the first options I tend to run in to.

Tanya pulled her hand from behind her back, sheathing the knife on her right side. She did not, however, let go of the handle.

"Fine, say I believe you. I still don't trust you, even if you are telling the truth."

Octavius' expression bore the slightest hint of intrigue now.

"…You are aware of blood-based magic?"

Tanya raised an eyebrow. "In passing, yes."

Octavius extended his hand.

"Then, I extend to you a temporary blood pact, lasting until sunset." A crimson circle of magical energy floated over his palm, symbols, runic and magical script coalescing inside. "The meeting should not take long. Perhaps not even until noon. But, I believe extending the pact until the sun goes down a prudent and effective display of trust. Do you agree?"

Tanya scanned the magic circle quickly with Magic Sense and a few formulae-based detection spells, her brow furrowing at the oddly familiar feeling behind the energy.

"Well, it's certainly a point in your favor."

It seemed to be exactly as he said it was. And he at least intended her no harm, she knew for a fact.

"Let's say I agree. What does this pact guarantee? How can I be sure your word is at all relevant, and that one of your fellow Scylla Heads won't just kill you to get to me?"

"The pact guarantees your safety from harm at the hands of Scylla. If any of my fellow Heads attempt to do you harm, I will defend you. The basis of a pact is intent, and my intent is to keep you alive. I am willing to put my word in blood to convince you of this."

The crimson magic swirled above his palm, as if in response.

"It is equivalent exchange. Your trust for my protection during the meeting. Though again, the pact will last until sundown. It goes without saying that I am also trusting you not to abuse this pact."

"Intent, huh?"

That's right, much of magic's power is derived from intent. If your intent is to create fire, and you have the appropriate magicules, you can use fire magic. A pact like this would take the intent of both parties into account, being based on trust. I imagine if I agree, and then intentionally try to work around it, the pact will simply dissolve. This would only disadvantage me.

Tanya hmm'd thoughtfully.

Meanwhile, if he tried to work around the pact, the repercussions would be much more severe, given the more explicit requirements on his own end. He's at the disadvantage just by doing this. I'm at the advantage no matter what. He's seriously trying to convince me to accept.

"What do I need to do?"

I can't turn this sort of deal down. I'd have to be off my rocker to not. Parley with Scylla? The amount of intel I should be able to drag out of them will be absurd.

"Accept." Octavius replied.

So, Tanya did. With a few caveats.

-=-

Mary opened pushed open the door with her hip, her left arm covered in blood and her right holding a brown paper bag filled with various baked goods.

"Hey, so I ran into another Shade while visiting a bakery, and he was really ugly looking. He spit his own blood too, with some kind of acid effect or something? I cancelled it out before it could hit me with that part, but it's still super gross."

She paused, glancing around the room.

"Degurechaff?"

-=-=-=-

Later

Centermost Section

Xerxes, Eastern Empire

Tanya had prepared herself on the walk over.

She'd gone through a mental list, of every bad guy organization or evil groups or otherwise "group of potentially dangerous individuals" she'd ever personally encountered.

A smaller list than you might expect given her history, but then again, most of her problems were the result of other soldiers or a Devil playing at Deity rather than the latest "Council of Dubious Dumbasses".

…Which honestly wasn't exactly a common thing in her previous world, despite being the unwilling victim of an isekai-related incident – technically three times, if you counted that weird school world with other isekai-related people, though she had no memories of that world and would never regain them – in a world of sort of science-based magic.

Her first isekai experience had been a bit an atypical one, Tanya idly thought.

She hadn't been especially overpowered… well, not without a serious drawback to said over-powered-ness, and she'd not met any demon lords, cat people, or evil organizations bent on world domination.

That's what the typical isekai experience was like, right? She'd really gotten the short end of the stick, all things considered.

Fuck Being X.

Anyways.

In terms of "Councils of Dubious Dumbasses", Tanya had a few in mind.

The Rus Federation's Communist Party leaders counted, in her eyes, as did the Supreme High Command of the Empire and the entire Intelligence Department of the Allied Kingdom. Those were the first ones to come to mind.

More recently – since her latest reincarnation – the Demon Lord Council was tentatively placed on the list, as was the Moderate Harlequin Alliance, which she'd only heard whispers of at best.

And honestly, they were only on the list because Geld swore the Majin that had tricked his predecessor had dressed like a clown while doing so, and Tanya was too much of a realist – read, pessimist – to not connect "evil clown Majin" with "Harlequin Alliance".

And now, there was this "Scylla" organization.

There were a few important things that Tanya would keep in mind.

One, there was a possibility that this was still an ambush. Even with Octavius' blood pact binding them together, Tanya's trust was tentatively extended to the vampire, and only the vampire, and only only because she could literally feel his sincerity through the pact.

Two, even if it wasn't an ambush, it was likely she would be threatened, or asked to make reparations of some sort. She had beaten one of their members to near death after all.

Three, no matter what this meeting would end up being, this would likely be the key moment in her own investigation. Villains – as childish as classifying something as a "villain" sounded in her mind – had a tendency to tell more than they should. If she asked the right questions, then there was no doubt she'd accumulate enough pieces to figure out, at the very least, a more defined outline of their actual plans.

Given that she hadn't yet managed to fully decipher the purpose of the city-wide ritual circle, which may or may not even be Scylla's work, Tanya needed to grasp for as many straws as she could.

Knowledge is power, as the cliché goes.

Four, and last but not least, deception. Deception, deception, deception. Scylla would try to deceive her.

They would fail. Tanya would not.

Scylla could not know her own goals. Currently, her risk and the risk to Tempest was negligible. Scylla seemed to still believe her name was "Tasha", and she planned to keep things that way.

No matter what this First Head of Scylla wished to speak about, Tanya would not be unprepared. She would not be caught off guard. She would be ready for anything, and if need be, she had the power to bulldoze her way out.

Running away was something she was good at.

Tanya kept these thoughts in her mind throughout their trip. From the moment she'd laced up her boots to the moment she stood with Octavius outside a lone door, several flights of stairs underneath the headquarters of the Xerxes military branch.

She even kept this in mind as Octavius opened the door, walking in and announcing their presence with that same bored, somber tone he'd been stuck on since she'd met him that morning.

The conference room, for that's what it had to be modeled after, was rather large, though not obnoxiously so. Along the walls, where in a skyscraper or otherwise above ground room with the same purpose there'd be windows, tapestries and paintings were hung. Depictions of war were common, but so were acts of peace. One tapestry showed a bloody mess of fabric and bodies, and another showed a scene that looked suspiciously close to a certain fish and bread miracle performed by a certain Guy in the Sky's son.

Not the ugliest or gaudiest room Tanya had been in, by far. Rather pretty, in fact, especially with the ceiling having bene painted to look like a starry night sky.

The well-sized table that sat in the room's center was circular and a deep brownish maroon. Expertly crafted in a way that was obvious from a glance, it was surrounded by seven chairs of similar material and skill, no doubt a part of the same set or at least from the same craftsman. 

There was no actual head, Tanya noted, though one of the chairs was directly across from the room's door.

This was the First Head's chair, no doubt. It was also filled, presumably with the man in question, as were two other chairs to the man's right.

An open seat sat between the First Head and-

"Hello there, Nin." Tanya decided to stir the waters a bit, just to see how serious they were about this parley, "Lovely weather out, don't you think? Cold, true, but I'm sure you actually prefer that right now."

Nin snarled, opening his mouth to retort.

"Nin. Stay silent." The First Head spoke.

Oh?

"You are here to observe, not to make more mistakes. Understand?"

"Tch." Nin looked away. "Fine."

So, this is the First Head of Scylla? Something seemed to click in Tanya's mind. I think… this is Nin's creator, right?

Octavius wandered away from her, taking the open seat between the First Head and Nin. He remained silent, though Tanya noted with interest that he didn't even acknowledge the others beyond momentary eye contact.

The First Head watched his colleague sit with a blank expression, before turning to face her.

"Step into my parlour." He said, gesturing at the seat across from Octavius, and next to an oddly familiar blonde woman.

"Said the fly to the spider." Tanya replied, taking the proffered seat.

"I believe the phrase is the other way around, actually."

"I'm aware."

The man blinked, then chuckled quietly.

"Very well. I am the First Head of Scylla, Drake. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Unfortunately, I can't indulge you and say the pleasure is all mine, because you seem to have left a roach infestation alone." Tanya shot an obvious glance at Nin, "How did you survive, by the way?"

"Fuck off."

Tanya was undeterred.

"By the looks of things, I'd say it was this woman right here who saved you." She turned to the woman next to her, "I don't believe we've met. Do you often attack others with your pets?"

"Eve." The woman said shortly, the snake around her neck eyeing Tanya with a what was unmistakably a sapient level of intelligence. "And no, I made an exception just for you. You nearly killed one of us, after all."

"Well, let's not cast the first stone too quickly now." Tanya glanced at Drake. "Keep your subordinates in check, will you?"

"All the Heads of Scylla are equal in position." Drake countered, "Though, some of us have seniority. Nin, Eve, don't be antagonistic."

That confirms one of my guesses. Their numbers don't correspond to their strength. It must be the order in which they joined, because unless Drake is really good at hiding his wrinkles, it's certainly not by age.

"We are here for parley, not a party. Control yourselves."

"That's right, we are here for that." Tanya leaned her chair back on two legs, kicking her feet up on the table.

How much would they let her get away with?

She observed the others.

Nin and Eve's irritation was clear as day. Octavius didn't react. Neither did Drake.

Interesting.

"I'm curious, then, why only four of your seven chairs are filled today." Tanya gestured at the two empty seats to her left. "Five, if you count mine. What gives?"

"The Third and the Fifth are attending to business outside the Empire. They will not be joining us for the foreseeable future."

Why would you share that? Now your enemy knows that two of your members can't help you. Wouldn't you rather bluff, given my own lack of knowledge, and say they were merely elsewhere in the city?

That, or Drake actually was bluffing, but in reverse. She hadn't ruled that out.

You could have said they were "taking care of something important" and left it at that. You could have not said anything and let me assume this was everyone, leaving me unaware of additional threats. Why did you not do that?

Tanya realized something in that moment.

Are they novices? They don't understand how the game works. That, or they simply don't care about playing games, like Rimuru and my fellow Executives. But the thing is, Rimuru has the power, or will have the power soon, to do whatever he wants. He doesn't have to bother. This group either fits the same category or is drastically incompetent.

"Then, I assume everyone else is already here?"

"That correct." Drake nodded.

"Let's get on with it then. We're here to parley, so let's parley." Tanya uncrossed and recrossed her legs. Her left foot had been going numb. "You want to negotiate a ceasefire, right?"

She could see similarities, if she squinted. Human-ish guy as the leader, with the strongest member of the group being both old and uncaring about certain things.

It was a bit of a stretch, Tanya would admit.

"No. I would like to ask you to join Scylla as its Seventh Head."

Okay, maybe not as much of a stretch as she thought.

Apparently, Drake had another thing in common with Rimuru that Tanya had not expected. He also wanted to recruit her.

Jury's out on if he succeeds.

"Excuse me?" Tanya nearly fell out of her seat.

Somehow, this had not occurred to her at any point. This hadn't even been on the table, as far as she was concerned.

"WHAT!!" Nin jumped out of his seat, slamming his hands on the table, "She tried to kill me!"

"She basically did kill him, actually. Several times." Eve added, her mouth set in a thin line. She glared at Tanya, a look which Tanya did not deign to return, given that she was currently trying not to topple over backwards.

Tanya blinked incredulously, slowly maneuvering her boots off the table and sitting up straight.

He's clearly still alive though.

"Surely we can't just ignore that." Eve continued, turning back to Drake. "Right?"

Drake sighed.

"You tried to kill her first, did you not?" He addressed in Nin's direction.

"I- well." Nin looked away.

"That's what I thought." Drake nodded. "Octavius? What do you think?"

"...She is powerful. Uniquely so. It is... intriguing. I wouldn't mind seeing the limits of that power." Octavius stared at Tanya, "Whether that is as friend or foe... I do not care."

"Good." Drake turned to Tanya. "I've weighed the options. This is the most reasonable course of action for everyone involved. You are strong; your dismantling of Nin is evidence enough of that. We could use someone of your strengths. Join us and become one of the strongest."

Become one of the strongest? Tanya mentally echoed.

"I think you're getting ahead of yourself. I've still got a bone to pick with you all, and until that's addressed you can forget any cooperation on my end, much less me actively helping you."

"Name your concerns. I'm sure I can address them."

"That's not how this is going to work." Tanya shook her head. "What do you mean 'become one of the strongest'? As far as I'm concerned, the only person in this room who could help me with that is the one who seems bored out of his mind. How are you doing by the way, Octavius?"

"…Peachy."

"That's great to hear, Octavius. I'm glad one of us is enjoying themselves."

"Scylla is in the critical stages of an operation. One that will guarantee our superiority over the world." Drake leaned forward, steepling his fingers, "I cannot share more than that to an outsider, but it is one of the reasons I am so adamant you join us. We would both benefit from this arrangement heavily. It hits several birds with one stone, as they say."

"Yeah, pull the other one." Tanya rolled her eyes, "You've shared a lot more than I'd expect, but not the one piece of info that might actually get me to join. I don't even know who you are. You seem perfectly content to give, so give me something I can work with. What are your goals? Do you even have a reason for existing, or are you just a bunch of chuckleheads fucking around and kidnapping people for no reason other than for the hell of it?"

Alright, breathe. Tanya took a breath. Fuck, I hate idiots. This is the most reasonable thing you could come up with? I admit, I can vaguely see your train of thought, but surely I didn't terrify you that much that you would jump to this before anything else. "I've weighed the options" he said.

"My dream..."

Oh, for fuck's sake. This is my fault. I'm the one who asked for his reasons, and now I'm the one that has to listen to the villain monologue.

"…is to be the greatest. I'm going to stand at the top of humanity, the guiding set piece, the shining ideal of progress. And the Heads of Scylla will stand beside me, pinnacles in their own right. That is Scylla's purpose. To stand atop the world!"

Blah blah blah, and then you'll slay the Jabberwocky and go off to fucking Narnia to rule over magical lions with an iron fist.

"Lofty dreams for certain. And to do that you'll, what, inundate your city with Shades? Become the military leader of a single city of a single nation? Kidnap more monsters, people? Your actions don't match your aspirations. Not from what I've seen. I'm almost sorry for you, especially with the sort of help you're keeping. Speaking of which, hello over there Nin. You've been awfully quiet so far. Afraid of getting burned again?"

Tanya paused.

"Metaphorically, of course."

Tanya wasn't looking at Nin, though there was no doubt he was seething. She was looking at Drake, for his reaction.

How much did he care about his supposed creation? How antagonistic could she be, especially since it was looking more and more like she had them over a barrel. And she had barely done anything!

Lo and behold, there was an eye twitch! Looks like Tanya could get on his nerves after all. That was good. The more annoyed he got, the more likely it was he'd spill something critical by mistake.

"You lack critical knowledge." He said after a beat.

Tanya disagreed. Do I? I think it's the opposite.

"If you joined us, you could understand."

"I thought I told you already; that's not how this is going to work."

Drake seemed to have fundamentally misunderstood her character. She could see his thought process, so she couldn't exactly blame him.

Here's what he knew about her: she was Tasha, an adventurer and self-proclaimed hero, though this hid a more ruthless interior that was willing to burn a man alive if it meant cutting through an annoyingly powerful regeneration ability. She was also likely the strongest person in the room, or at least near the vampire, given how deferential and forthcoming he'd been so far.

But he had made one incorrect – educated but ultimately fatal – guess with that information.

He assumed that Tanya would want in on the scheme that would apparently make its perpetrators the most powerful group of people in the world. He assumed Tanya, or rather, "Tasha", would want to become more powerful as well. That she would se the opportunity for what it was and jump on it.

That's a fair assumption to make.

But, as reasonable as it sounded, he did not realize something.

Tanya did not desire power.

Well, that's not entirely true. She'd desired one form power in her first life, as a productive member of society who deserved promotion and the deliverance of their earned rewards.

Tanya did not desire power anymore.

Not since her own denial of it to another, the firing and loss of power experienced by a subordinate, had led to her first death and first meeting with Being X. Not since every promotion she'd gotten since then had only brought her closer to the battlefield, directly in line with yet another death, one she vehemently tried and untimely failed to avoid.

Seriously, fuck Being X.

Tanya did not desire power for power's sake.

The fact that she gained power, that she trained constantly away from the eyes of Mary and Hakurou and many others, that she improved and mastered skills and Skills and spells and more, was not contradictory to this.

Rimuru did not desire power either. It fell onto him like flies on honey, but he was perfectly content living life and existing. Tanya felt similarly.

She had gained power, and continued to do so, because the world was not fair.

Power, the great equalizer.

Her life in Tempest was the closest she'd gotten to a truly peaceful existence since her first life, and damn her desire or lack thereof, she would protect that peaceful existence with whatever amount of violence was necessary.

And if that seemed ironic, then that was the point. What was her life, except a series of cruel ironies stacked atop one another?

Whatever Scylla was planning, it would disrupt the peaceful existence Tanya was protecting. That much was clear.

That meant Scylla had to go.

"How about this. I'll tell you what I know so far, and we can compare notes." Tanya pointed at Drake.

"Right now, I see a man with dreams that far surpass himself. I see an organization who, for all intents and purposes, has nothing to show for its efforts. Other than pissing me off, Scylla's main accomplishments seem to be creating Shadow-based beasts that can't compete with a well-trained Hobgoblin and digging a massive network of empty tunnels under this city. Your résumé isn't looking good, Drake."

She let her hand drop.

"You're going to become the greatest, and you're going to put Scylla on top of the world. Is that right? I'm someone who finds the freedom of the individual important. So, how will you go about your goals? By stepping on the little guy? Through violence, fear? By showing off your currently nonexistent 'incredible' power? You'll effectively be declaring war on the rest of the world. Are you willing to take on all challengers?"

Tanya shook her head.

"I'll answer that last question for you: you aren't. You have no idea what you're getting into, and you have no idea the enemies you'll make by doing following these dreams of yours. There are some incredible people in this world. What makes you think you can best them? I've fought Milim the Destroyer, and I only survived because she wasn't taking it seriously. If that's true for me, then there's no doubt in my mind she'd rip this place to shreds without an iota of effort.

Of course, Tanya was stronger now than she was then, but they didn't need to know that.

"Here's some friendly advice from someone experienced with war. When you've got a fairly sharp sword comapred to the bunch, and you decide the best decision is to wave it about threateningly, remember that there will always be someone with a much sharper knife waiting to stab you in the back."

Drake slammed his hands against the table, jumping to his feet.

Why do people like slamming the table so much?

"That's exactly why you should join us. You are what Scylla needs."

Huh?

"Have you been listening? In case you've forgotten, I'm verbally ripping you a new one."

"And it's clearly deserved. You've pointed out just what Scylla needs for its future success, and it's you! Become the Seventh Head, Tasha. Join us!"

"Oh for-" None of this had gone the way Tanya was expecting, and it was starting to piss her off. "Stop embarrassing yourself, before Scylla become even more of a joke than it already is."

"Of course." Drake composed himself, sitting back down without a complaint.

Why the hell am I the one who's more concerned with your image?

Tanya pinched the bridge of her nose.

I really hate this. I hate everything about this. I'm not going to complain about my foe being incompetent, but at a certain point I'm just embarrassed to be fighting you.

"Before I make any kind of agreement with you, there's a few problems you need to address."

You, because Octavius doesn't care, and everyone else just bows to your whim anyway. Scylla may as well just be you, Drake.

"I only agreed to come because I believe you have something that belongs to me. And I want it back, before I even consider anything else. Understand?"

"What are you referring to? I'm sure Scylla can accommodate."

A broken record. It's just the same shit over and over.

"Is that so?" Tanya raised an eyebrow, "My allies. The Kijin Souei and the Dragonewt Souka. They went missing recently. Do you have them or not?"

"We do."

"Then release them. Furthermore, the Goblinas, Gobhua and Gobara, whom Scylla kidnapped. Allow them to return home. Then, perhaps we may come to an accord."

"Your allies will be returned to you." Drake didn't hesitate to respond, before looking at Nin. "As I remember, the kidnapping of the Goblinas was your idea, Nin. Can they be returned?"

"I've absorbed them, so no. Their existence has already been assimilated into mine." Nin glanced at Tanya with a lazy smirk, no doubt relishing in the closest thing to control and power he'd held in this conversation, "Pity."

Absorbed? They've been assimilated?

That make a worrying amount of sense and matched up well with a few theories Tanya had half-heartedly thrown around when considering Nin's abilities after their last fight.

That wasn't important right now.

Because right now, Tanya was mad.

For several reasons, not the least of which being that since Gobhua and Gobara were dead, coming to Xerxes was a massive waste of time. And while she honestly hadn't expected the Goblinas to still be alive after this long, it still rankled her something fierce just how casual he was being over the loss of life of two innocent people.

And over wasting her time.

Tanya was not a saint by any means.

But those two Goblinas were Tempest citizens. And apparently, Nin thought he could just waltz in and steal from Tempest. A city, at least in part, that was her responsibilty.

He really thought he could just stir the pot and leave it to boil, without even considering the consequences.

Fuck that.

That pissed her off.

It was a matter of principle.

"Then I refuse to cooperate on any level with Scylla." Tanya stood. "Does it feel good, Nin? Does the satisfaction fuel you? I hope that feeling lasts as long as possible, because you'll need something to remember fondly while I'm ripping you into bloody pieces."

Nin would've retorted, if it weren't for the furious energy directed at him not just by Tanya, but also by Drake.

"Tasha, hold on." Drake rose as well. "We can still negotiate. What about your allies?"

"What about them? I'm not joining Scylla, so the deal's off. Not unless I get everything I asked for."

Drake frowned. "You're making a mistake, and for what, greed?"

"What's wrong with greed? You want the world, don't you? Well, I want two innocent Goblinas to return home to their families, but it looks like neither of us will get what we want."

Tanya strode towards the door, her hand slapping metal doorknob and her eyes flashing for a brief second as she turned to face the room at large.

"And about my allies. How's this for a deal? Release them, and we won't interfere in whatever scheme you've got going on. Got that? Send Octavius with your answer whenever you're ready; I'll wait outside."

-=-

As soon as the door slammed shut, Nin and Eve turned to Drake.

"What are you playing at, Drake?" Eve asked first, "You weren't acting like yourself at all. I certainly hope these aren't your true colors."

"When did you become such a suck up?" Nin said with a confused expression.

Eve sighed. "Yes, what he said."

Drake slowly dropped back to his seat, his expression melting into one of calm indifference.

"I truly did want her to join us. But you're right." He clasped his hands together, "She's powerful. Frighteningly strong. I could tell. Not just from her aura, but from the very air about her. It's unique in a way that's hard to describe, just as Octavius told us."

"Can we really let her just walk all over us?" Nin complained, "That was humiliating! She was insulting us the entire time!"

"It's better if she underestimates us. That's the point of the act, Nin. As the First Head, my image reflects Scylla's. No doubt she thinks we're a bunch of novices who don't even understand the game we're playing. That's the one of the best possible outcomes."

"Then all of it was an act?" Eve raised an eyebrow. "I've never seen you play that role before. And here I thought I was the snake around here."

"It was a partial act. I saw two possibilities, both of which were acceptable. The first was if she'd accepted. After, I would have dropped the facade and told her the rest of Scylla's plan." He said, shrugging. "No doubt, she'd be appreciative to learn that her new organization was smarter than it appeared. The second option was her denial, in which case I wanted to convince her to leave Scylla's plans alone. The fact that her allies are in our custody is a fortunate piece with which to bargain, but not something I'd counted on. Trust that I had other plans and leave it at that."

"But-"

"Enough, Nin. It's time you start acting in the manner befitting your role. You as well, Eve. I've been lenient with both of you, but that lenience nearly led to Nin's death and the failure of our operation." Drake frowned. "At most, we're beginning in two days. Two days, and Scylla will rise. No more interruptions will be allowed. Nothing can get in our way, understand?"

"Right."

"Yes, if that's your will."

Eve and Nin settled back comfortably in their seats. Drake let out a breath.

"Nin, I want to focus efforts on your Shades. How close are we to the required amount?"

"Actually, we're at the required amount. I boosted my production after my first confrontation with that woman." He jerked his thumb in the direction of the door, "Good thing too, since I'm still recovering my reserves. I'll be ready by tomorrow."

"Good. Eve?"

"My portion of the operation is complete. Communications are still being monitored, and my darling Quetz has long been prepared."

"Octavius?"

"…My duty is complete." Octavius rumbled, cracking open an eye, "But what of you, Drake? Have you made peace with it yet?"

"Of course I have."

"Don't lie." Octavius opened his other eye, sending Drake an unwavering stare, "The requirements for becoming a Demon Lord are some that many cannot stomach. And this operation, your role, it is of an even greater scale. Have you made peace with your decision?"

Drake closed his eyes, exhaling slowly.

"Peace isn't the right word for it." He leaned back in his chair, opening his eyes and staring at the constellation-patterned ceiling above. "I'm made my decision. There is not turning back, and I refuse to feel sorrow or anguish over it. There is no other path forward for me, for Scylla. No matter the cost, nor the bloodshed, my resolve is unwavering."

"We'll see." Octavius seemed to deliberate for a moment, "And what of Tasha?"

"Release her allies to her. If she follows the deal that she herself laid out, then she will not interfere. Inform her of our acceptance of her terms, Octavius. If you would."

Octavius inclined his head, an unreadable blankness to his expression. He rose, his palm closing over the doorknob and pulling the door open. He left the room without further delay.

"Of course, I'm not one to blindly trust others." Drake added, a few seconds later, once Octavius was out of earshot, "Nin, Eve. I want you two on guard. Nin, focus efforts on General Garmstrong and her cabal of loyal soldiers. I believe she's growing suspicious; she's intelligent, that's never been in doubt. I wouldn't put it past her to try and interfere once the barriers go up. Eve, you'll watching the entrances at the same time. Unfortunately, we can't do anything about the soldiers who will already be in HQ, but we can still keep others from coming in."

"As you wish," Eve tilted her head, "Though I have to wonder if that would that even be a possibility."

"Assume something can and will go wrong, and plan for it. I don't believe any of Xerxes' general populace or the soldiers outside of HQ can challenge our trap, but I also don't believe in leaving it to chance."

"Understood."

"I'm sorry to repeat myself, but are you sure we can just let Tasha go like this?" Nin said, crossing his arms, "It seems counterproductive. What if she goes back on her word? She's not the honorable sort. Not at all."

"Like you're a bastion of honor yourself." Eve laughed.

Drake held up a hand, and Eve fell silent.

"Even if she does, we will be prepared. If need be, Octavius might be able to handle her. And if you and Eve work with him, she'll have no chance." Drake's lips pressed together in a thin line, "This Tasha is just one woman, no matter how powerful. If push comes to shove, she'll find that Scylla can shove right back."

-=-

Well now, I suppose I didn't give you enough credit, Drake. But you're still mistaken.

Heavy footsteps approached her position, the tug of her and Octavius' blood pact twinging at the edge of her mind. Tanya snapped her fingers, allowing the formulae for the listening spell she'd slapped on the doorknob to fade from her mind.

"And what is the verdict?" She said, turning.

Octavius pulled up short just a few steps away, his bored expression given away by the hint of interested light in his eyes.

"…Don't you already know?"

-=-=-=-

That Afternoon, Saturday

The Maj Inn

Xerxes, Eastern Empire

"Where were you!" Mary stood in the center of the room, her arms crossed and her expression like that of a disappointed parent.

Degurechaff paused in the doorway as soon as she saw her.

"…Did you not read the note I left?" She said after a beat.

"…You left a note?"

They stared at each other.

Tanya dropped her head with a sigh.

"I left it in the journal." She stepped forward, closing the door behind her. "Have a seat and I'll explain what's happened."

Mary nodded, her cheeks slightly warm.

Tanya sat down on her own bed, beginning her explanation of the day's events immediately after. As she did this, Mary couldn't help but reminisce a bit.

It was still so surreal. This was their life now, wasn't it?

Having casual conversation. Sharing awkward moments. Working on the same mission. Fighting together instead of against one another.

Just… being friendly. Being friends.

Her, with the Devil of the Rhine. It was the weirdest thing. And, at times, Mary couldn't help but sit back and enjoy it. Who would have thought, huh?

Honestly, it didn't feel real at times. Almost like a dream.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Known Skills List

Tanya:

Common Skill: Thought Communication

Extra Skill: Magic Sense

Extra Skill: Magic Aura

Extra Skill: Voice of the World Communication

Unique Skill: Formulaic Casting

Unique Skill: Tetrabattery Limit Enhancement

Mary:

Extra Skill: Magic Sense

Extra Skill: Magic Aura

Extra/Intrinsic Skill: Physical Enhancement

Unique Skill: [It's a Rite of Passage to guess this now, apparently]

Notes:

I edited this at 2am. Ignore any mistakes.

About the alchemy stuff, if you look the symbols up you might be able to guess their purpose, but you really don't have to do that. I mean, it's going to happen next chapter so why waste your time? Unless you just really want to guess in the comments or something.

Anyway, we're nearing the end of this arc (kind of). It's all about to come together. Lots of battles coming your way! Who will fight who?

We might finally reach the real action, and it might not be what you expect. Next chapter, in: "Dreaming an Endless Dream".

Thanks for reading!