Chapter 8: A Deal One Can't Refuse

<Pls Enjoy>

-3rd POV-

"Ugh... Wha-!" The Thug which was unconscious, slowly fluttered her eyes open. She was about to groan and ask herself what happened, only to be cut off by a light shining down on her. 

This woke up her completely, squinting her eyes to readjust to the sudden brightness. She stopped squinting and with her vision fully adjusted, she noticed she was tied to a chair.

Her hands were behind the chair, tied with chains. Her body was bound to the chair with rope, in front of her was a solid metal table. The room was incredibly dark, so dark that only where the light shone was visible.

Then she flinched upon hearing a voice.

"Welcome troublemaker..." The voice came from across the table. A pair of shining gold eyes were all she was able to see, but that was enough to know who it was. How could she not remember the person who'd caught bullets and scared her to the point of fainting?

"Now, since your here and awake, I'll say what I have to say." The light grew bigger, finally showing a small circle around the table and Melissa standing behind a chair with a folder under her armpit.

"You have two options, the first one, is that I completely remove your existence from Kivotos. Poof, gone, just like that." As she said poof, her hands clasped together and then imitated an explosion. The Thug girl gave off a gloomy aura around her, which made Melissa smile a bit bit before continuing.

"Or... you join me." She threw the folder open onto the table. Within was a contract with clauses, statements and promises to be kept. Melissa walked around the table and made her way to the side of the Thug and leaned on the table. 

She snapped her fingers and a pen fell onto the contract. "I'll train you, provide you a salary and essentially make your life better. You just have to be my little servant." A sly smile was placed onto her lips as she locked eyes with the Thug. Slowly, from the table she made her way from behind the Thug, and put her hands onto the girl's shoulders.

"You'll be my pawn, but I don't ask for much. I always want the best for those under me." She leaned a bit closer and began speaking towards the Thug's ears.

"Afterall, in the game of chess, a pawn can become a queen." Melissa's voice began to echo within the Thug's mind. Melissa's eye color changed to a sensually hypnotic pink. 

The golden haired girl slowly moved her hands from the Thug's shoulders upward. They now touched the mask of the girl and slowly moved it off. A tinge of pink was noticeable on the black haired girl's face, but her breath was stuck in her throat.

"I'll make you into what you want to be. An idol, soldier, ace student or even someone capable of competing with the Prefecture team's president." Each word was extremely coercive and sly, like the demon Mephistopheles offering Faust knowledge, Melissa offered possibilities to a girl in a possibly bad situation.

Some of what Melissa was offering wasn't false, it just required time. An Idol? Dancing and singing were main priorities. Soldier? Workout routine, marksmanship and changing her temperament would do. Ace student? Studying and general knowledge checks. The last one was a stretch, but definitely possible if properly resourced.

"R-really?" The Thug finally managed to speak. She was curious, enticed, and scared. Would all her dreams come true? It certainly is tempting. But she's scared of whether it would all work out, or if Melissa would kill her.

But the golden haired girl just nodded and moved back around the table. She sat on the chair opposite of where the Thug was and gestured towards the contract. "I'm Melissa, would you tell me your name?"

"I... Wait..." She was even more confused. This was all going too fast for her. But she had moved her arms, she never noticed it, but the chains were removed from her wrists and the rope binding her upper body was untied. 

While her shock slowly dissolved, she looked into the eyes of Melissa. But once she locked her sight onto those hypnotic pink eyes, she ha lost herself. Her previous mental resistance had crumbled, a single thought only echoing in her mind. 'Pretty...'

"I'm... Eli Witmore..." Eli had unconsciously spoken her name, but made no effort to correct herself, let alone hide her blush now. She now sat up straight, slightly leaning forward to stare deeper into those eyes.

Neither of the two in the room noticed, but Eli's Halo flickered slightly. The usual plain white halo flickered, bent and increased in size slightly. But it still looked the same in the end. 

Melissa showed a genuine smile an tapped on the contract, each tap echoing within the room. "Well then Eli, what would you like to be?"

Eli picked up the pen, and slowly began to silent sign the contract. No clauses were read, nothing was made sure of as she listlessly signed the paper. The front was done, she flipped the page and saw more lines asking, 'What would you like to be?' and, 'What do you think you need?'

Although cryptic, the general understanding of the questions could be interpreted as a test of one's psyche and or personality. But this contract was none of that. It only served as a basis of what Melissa should arrange for her pup- workers.

Eli finally had cohesive thoughts when it came to these questions, but after a minute or so, she finally wrote something that is slightly concerning to an outsider, but to Melissa, it would be a joy.

After completing the entire folder worth of paper work, Eli didn't struggle but fully removed the mask with an X on it. A clear smile plastered on her face with a light blush to compliment it, replacing the previous look of a thug with the look of an innocent girl, one that had treaded the wrong path.

Melissa grabbed the folder an proceeded to read the contents, especially to make sure it was all in order. The page of what Eli had wanted to be though, was a pleasant surprise.

'What would you like to be?'

A Wonderful Servant.

<Author Section>

Sorry that I was gone for a bit, past few weeks were far more stressful than I thought. Same thing might be going on for the next few weeks. Also, if you encounter any of my comments on other fics, that's me reading my stress away.

Anyway, do any of you all want a relationship with any character in Blue Archive? 

I'm open to any suggestions, that includes Sensei (Female ver. does exist), any BA characters like Hina, Mika, Saori, Yuuka, Noah, Azusa, etc. Literally anyone... I'm also okay with just no relationship lol. 

Anyway, Cya Next Time.