[center] [img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/200312/bd228c426d0da7459764cb788d45b1cd.png[/img] [url=https://i.imgur.com/Y8OSnvr.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/OPMf9l2.png[/img][/url][/center] Patrolling, it was such a simple thing. Yet something that Penny often found herself involved in, now more than ever in fact since her home now housed more than just her. Sometimes she would go out with some of the other girls from the Sanctuary to help teach them, other times to hunt with them. This time though she was out on her own. Which wasn’t an unusual thing really, Penny was always up, and almost always active after all. It was at times like this that she used the act of Patrolling to help sort through her thoughts. The girls back at the Sanctuary could also contact her through the computer she had left behind. Wasn’t the best option, but it was all they had at the moment. Still her route took her across the city, as she always enjoyed the heights that the taller buildings offered, both for the view and the solitude. This time, however, she’d end up not being entirely alone. [color=077ae6]‘Penny Asimov,’[/color] said a voice through a small portal that opened numerous meters to her left, leading to but a dark room in an apartment from her perspective. It was too small to jump through, but big enough to potentially punch through, maybe. [color=077ae6]‘I am Mariette Pedersen. I wish to speak with you,’[/color] Mariette told, currently hiding on the other side of the portal, using [i]another[/i] small portal to bring her mouth closer to that portal. She knew of Penny’s fierce physical capability. She wanted to avoid taking chances. Penny’s initial reaction to the portal opening up was spinning to face it while also dropping into a defensive stance. As the Portal itself was proof enough of who was interrupting her rather sedate patrol. She would end up sliding out of it as Mariette spoke however, not that Penny trusted the portal wielding witch, but at this point the opportunity for an ambush had been lost. [color=9e0039][u][b]“You wanted to talk to me”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would reply as she walked closer to the portal, making sure to stop just out of arm's length of the point of punctured space. [color=9e0039][u][b]“I have to admit that I didn’t see this coming. Why me?”[/b][/u][/color] [color=077ae6]‘Because you’ve taken up the mantle as Cindy’s successor,’[/color] Mariette told, and then decided to rearrange herself a little. It was a shame not to see one another, after all. As such, she opened portals and brought two full-sized mirrors that she placed in two different apartments in Penrose. She then opened multiple portals, so the light from Penny went to a mirror that reflected the light into a portal meeting a different mirror that reflected through another portal where finally Mariette stood, a girl in dark dress, eyepatch, white hair, holding Bunny and looking to Penny, through two portals and two mirrors’ reflection. [color=077ae6]‘Cindy and I had a deal,’[/color] Mariette said. [color=077ae6]‘I would provide information and resources to her, and in turn I received goods and anything she felt she didn’t need, perhaps her prisoners or criminals if she had any, exactly what she’d give me was up in the air. She had my number. Sadly, her reign was cut short before our alliance could be properly utilized. Tell me, do you still keep the Talos that I gifted her? Where are those automatons now?’[/color] [color=9e0039][u][b]“No”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would reply after a moment of contemplation. The robotic girl was impressed at the very roundabout way that Mariette had made it so they would be facing each other. The contortions of space were interesting to track not that they told Penny anything about where the Portal Witch was. [color=9e0039][u][b]“They were destroyed at the Rave, few things can stand up to the amount of frenzied girls that were there, less when you add in the Ascendency.”[/b][/u][/color] She would explain as she stepped closer to the portal no longer worried about a sudden ambush. [color=9e0039][u][b]“I take it the Beach is when this agreement was settled?”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would ask, recalling the time that Cindy had wanted to meet with Mariette. [color=9e0039][u][b]“I can definitely see the advantages.”[/b][/u][/color] She would add giving a pointed look at the portal she stood in front of. [color=9e0039][u][b]“But I’m less inclined to agree to one myself, after all you’ve got enemies gunning for you. Still I’m willing to at least hear you out.”[/b][/u][/color] [color=077ae6]‘… Hmpf. What an utter waste,’[/color] Mariette said with a tinge of annoyance at the fate of the Talos. [color=077ae6]‘Used properly, they could have formed the backbone of an army…’[/color] she sighed, thinking of what a mistake it had been to gift those things to the supposed Queen. Anyway, that aside… [color=077ae6]‘You are correct, it was at the beach. She could gift me things I wanted, and as such I could support her little claim to power. She was going to fight a war with Beacon and all, after all. Given your connection to Beacon, I suppose that’s at an end…’[/color] Mariette squeezed her little Bunny, before continuing to talk. [color=077ae6]‘I could guide the remaining refugees of Beacon to your Sanctuary. I could help you unify them, give a good word for those that doubt you, and dissuade them from infighting. I can watch the whole city at once, I don’t miss any riots or battles. I can always be there, if so needed. … But before I offer any of that, I wish to know what you intend to do with them. What do you wish to accomplish, as the new queen? The Ascendancy isn’t going to stop hunting monsters, and the monsters won’t stand for it forever…’[/color] Mariette asked, inspecting Penny as she did. [color=9e0039][u][b]“My intentions are simple. I intend to give Sanctuary.”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would say as she folded her arms across her midsection. [color=9e0039][u][b]“Half the magical world wants to kill us, the other half wants to enslave us. I just want to give us a place where we can be safe and not be taken advantage of. I don’t trust the Mint, I don’t trust the Ascendency, and I don’t trust most Patrons, save for the Gods. Because at least they declare their intentions upfront usually.”[/b][/u][/color] [color=9e0039][u][b]“My goal is peace. Most of us are here for eternity, afterall, and I’d rather not have that time be spent on pointless bloodshed. I’m not assuming that peace will come easily and sadly it won’t come cheaply. Why do you want to know?”[/b][/u][/color] [color=077ae6]‘Peace, huh. So, when the Ascendancy decides to raid the monster girls and dark girls of Penrose, which side do you stand on? The side of Beacon, or the side of the corrupted? In a strange twist, you’re an ally of both, are you not?’[/color] Mariette asked, staring at Penny through the reflections. [color=077ae6]‘Regardless, I am asking in order to make sure you’re not going to force the girls under your charge to make a decision they don’t want to make. Beacon has these purifying coins that removes all forms of darkness and monster-attributes from their souls. Thing is, you could so easily bring these coins forth into the Sanctuary, and tell them “this is your chance for true safety”… and I wouldn’t agree to that. Some diversity is what gives our world colour, is it not? If we offered a machine that would turn black people white and offered it as a solution to racism, the black community would be [i]deeply[/i] offended, and this is much the same thing. You see what I’m saying?’[/color] Mariette asked at the end, her gaze sharp. [color=9e0039][u][b]“You mean these?”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would ask as a White coin slid out from her plam for her to hold up. [color=9e0039][u][b]“I am well acquainted with them. After all, I was the first person to experience their effects.”[/b][/u][/color] A moment later the coin would slide back into Penny’s frame [color=9e0039][u][b]“Thing is, I agree with you, but for very different reasons. Plenty of people don’t fit into their gender upon birth, and I know from experience that the same can be applied to species.”[/b][/u][/color] She would keep her gaze locked onto Mariette as she spoke, never blinking and hardly moving. [color=9e0039][u][b]“But. That cuts both ways. There are girls out there that have been forced into a shape that they hate, trapped by the very people that have dragged them into this world without any thought to their consideration. This coin is for them, and I will not deny those that want the chance to be free the only key that I am aware of to open those bindings.”[/b][/u][/color] Mariette held a passive expression as she listened to Penny’s words. [color=077ae6]‘Yeah, that’s fair. If they truly want an out, that’s fair. However, you have to be careful with your position as queen, here. You could very easily create an environment where the girls will feel pressured to use the coin even if they don’t want to, or perhaps pressured against it despite wanting to depending on the reactions of the crowd. That aside. Why does the coin force the user to become an agent of Beacon? Why make purification the same as joining the ranks of those who once hunted you down? Why does it do that?’[/color] Mariette asked, her expression and tone blank. [color=9e0039][u][b]“No one has had a need for it yet, but trust me I know that I have to be careful with them. Their scarcity on my end should go some way from preventing such an environment however.”[/b][/u][/color] She would explain. Penny was also struck by the odd realization that she and Mariette shared a lot of the same worries and concerns for the girls here in Penrose. Something that she wasn’t really sure how to deal with considering they also were kind of avowed enemies due to Beacon. Idly she wondered if this is how the rest of Beacon felt towards the friendlier monster girls in the city. [color=9e0039][u][b]“I can’t say for certain why they do that, but I have my theories.”[/b][/u][/color] She would go on to say instead [color=9e0039][u][b]“Could be a bit of retaliation, you and people like you have kidnapped Beacon’s members and found ways around the Spark. These coins are a quick way to save those kidnapped and brainwashed girls. Could also be simple ignorance, they are a part of Beacon so why would it not bring people closer to Beacon. As you can’t discount the fact that before me, no one in Beacon really interacted with the corrupted girls, at least not openly, so from the outside looking in it is easy to see corruption as a curse. Could also be fear, Beacon hasn’t had many friends in the city and that was before their HQ got bombed and the Ascendency moved in. They could have simply felt they needed more people on their side.”[/b][/u][/color] [color=9e0039][u][b]“But something tells me you didn’t ask those questions simply to hear my thoughts on the matter did you?”[/b][/u][/color] Mariette kept quiet as she listened to Penny’s words, slightly tilting her head, still holding Bunny close. After that last question, Mariette kept quiet. [color=077ae6]‘You seem reasonable,’[/color] Mariette eventually concluded, [color=077ae6]‘unlike your predecessor. Which may actually be a disappointment, Cindy seemed like she was about to force some big changes. Perhaps it’s for the better that the changes come by a steady hand, compared to a forceful one. But maybe the steady hand won’t be able to break the barrier of status quo, whereas the forceful one would? Time will tell,’[/color] she said with a shrug. [color=077ae6]‘I’ve been tasked with delivering items to you. Before I did that, I wanted to get an impression of who you are. I have gotten my impression now. I have what I came for.’[/color] With Light-magic on her side, she could tell that Penny was sincere. [color=077ae6]‘I also had the objective of introducing myself to the new queen. The offer I had with Cindy is still open. Provide me with the monsters you capture or artifacts you don’t need, because I can offer them to my patron to keep him happy, and we want him happy, that’s good for everyone, and in exchange I can help you out in various ways that depend on what your current issue is.’[/color] [color=077ae6]‘Other than that…’[/color] Mariette slowed down a little. [color=077ae6]‘… Justine von Visceral is back. You were there last time we fought her. She’s liable to attack my mansion, as well as anywhere else. I thought you should know, if you somehow did not,’[/color] Mariette said, looking at Penny. [color=9e0039][u][b]“I am aware that Justine is back. I don’t trust her, I have nothing but reasons to distrust her. The thing is that I could say the same about you, it’s not quite the same degree of distrust, but I know very little about you except that you worked alongside Justine once before and that you have double crossed Alicia.”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would point out, more curious than anything. A lot of people seemed to be judging her nowadays, one more person didn’t really seem to matter all that much. [color=9e0039][u][b]“So what is a reason I should have to expect anything else from you? For as far as I can tell most of your agreements end in a double crossing of some sort.”[/b][/u][/color] She would speak not with condemnation in her voice, but simple fact. For if she intended to be Queen, trusting Mariette blindly at this point would be foolhardy. But the enemy of my enemy and all that was at least reason enough to give a chance for the mirror-touched girl to state her case. Penny was used to being in the middle of twisted webs of intrigue after all. Mariette looked away from Penny, her expression taken by a mild degree of regret. She kept quiet numerous seconds, before speaking. [color=077ae6]‘I didn’t… mean to double-cross her,’[/color] Mariette began, taking a heavy breath before looking to Penny again. [color=077ae6]‘After defeating Caroline, I infiltrated Justine’s palace through a different direction than the rest of you, meaning to catch her unawares. On the way I ran into all the captured girls and Justine’s treasury. I freed the girls and took the contents of the treasury, for it made no sense to leave it where it lay. I… I was going to let the girls go home, but that’s…’[/color] she sighed a little. [color=077ae6]‘… that was when Asengav took what I had claimed, and congratulated me on a job well done. I couldn’t tell him I had been meaning to let the girls go. You don’t tell a Horror that. In that regard, yes, I double-crossed Alicia and is serving just distrust. But… I didn’t mean to,’[/color] she stated, her voice not nearly as confident as previously, staring with a slightly sad eye at Penny. Penny stayed utterly motionless as she listened to Mariette, her eyes drilling into the younger girl’s face as she spoke, giving no indication of her internal thoughts or feelings on the story she had just been given. In fact it would be a few silent moments before Penny did anything. [color=9e0039][u][b]“I’m going to give you a chance.”[/b][/u][/color] She would say her voice calm even though her eyes remained focused. [color=9e0039][u][b]“It sounds like you have a valid reason for your actions. But there are three things you should know in case you are lying to me.”[/b][/u][/color] She would go on to say as she rose one arm up to touch the portal in front of her, black lightning arcing from it at her touch. [color=9e0039][u][b]“First, I have a perfect memory, I won’t forget anything about this conversation and you have given me a reason to not trust you completely within it. Second I know your Banes, Justine has given out that information to Beacon. So your weaknesses are not hidden from me.”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would raise her hands up in front of her as she spoke in that same calm tone of voice. [color=9e0039][u][b]“Lastly”[/b][/u][/color] She would seem to grip the space in front of her before wrenching it open in a violent display of magic, forming a portal of her own directly from where she stood to Mariette [color=9e0039][u][b]“You won’t be able to hide from me if I go hunting for you.”[/b][/u][/color] She let her words hang in the air for a moment before stepping backwards. [color=9e0039][u][b]“You said that you were tasked to deliver things to me. Mind if I ask who sent you?”[/b][/u][/color] Mariette winced a bit at the arm crackling with black lightning, unsure if she was safe or not all of a sudden. She made herself ready to close the portals anyway. … Beacon knew her banes? There was a notable twinge of regret in Mariette’s expression. Did she really have to…? Life was suddenly that much more of a pain. And then lastly- Mariette staggered back as a new portal not of her own making opened before her, she’d have fallen over if not for multiple tentacles that spread out of her shadow just in case, some stabilizing her and others placing themselves between her and Penny’s sudden appearance, her visible eye wide in shock, mouth partway open. Wh-why… can this girl do that? Mariette suddenly felt a whole lot less in control of the situation… Apparently spared for now, but shaken to her core, Mariette stabilized herself on tentacles and gripped Bunny with both hands as she looked at Penny, suddenly afraid of the mechanized queen. She couldn’t help it, that was a direct blow to her comfort… [color=077ae6]‘I- I cannot. I would be breaching confidentiality, as they didn’t want themselves to be known yet. I also don’t have the items currently, though I know what they’ll be and I wanted to check if I wanted you to have it. I’ll deliver the items as promised when the time comes,’[/color] she said, wincing a little at how subservient she was sounding. [color=077ae6]‘… And, since I feel I must, I want to explain a bit further on a certain other incident that could be held against me. After freeing the girls, I made them invade the mansion with me, because it felt like the best way I could look after them… and also because the place was littered with my banes, so I could use their help. I sent them scouting and to collect items for me, while avoiding combat.’[/color] Now to the incident. [color=077ae6]‘I don’t know how it happened, but [i]somehow[/i] some of them came into conflict with Beacon girls, and some of the freed girls lost their lives. I assume this was due to a misunderstanding, the girls thought those they fought were Justine’s girls. I did not want them to get into a fight like that. I still don’t entirely understand how it happened, but I had no part in that other than making the error in judgement of sending girls just freed from Justine’s torture to scout.’[/color] … And that was that part. Penny would simply nod at Mariette’s words. She had a feeling she knew of which girls were being talked about, but that wasn’t really important at the moment. She did take a glance at the black tentacles that sprouted up around Mariette though a bit of information that she hadn’t had before. She would return her gaze to Mariette, it was notably soft for the first time in this entire conversation. [color=9e0039][u][b]“I don’t blame you for their actions and I can’t argue about not telling me who it is that is sending me things. Getting you to betray them wouldn't help our relationship after all”[/b][/u][/color] She would say as she closed her own portal, it had served its purpose and was no longer needed. [color=9e0039][u][b]“I wouldn’t mind knowing what they are ahead of time, however.”[/b][/u][/color] Mariette did not entirely feel comforted by the softer gaze, still felt alarmed. But the acceptance of her words and the closing of the portal did go some way to make her feel a bit more comfortable, albeit she knew Penny could close that distance if she so wished. [color=077ae6]‘… You will have to be patient, I’m afraid,’[/color] Mariette replied to the last statement. [color=077ae6]‘So, er… would you like my phone number?’[/color] Mariette asked, sounding a little awkward. [color=9e0039][u][b]“Eh, fair enough”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would shrug at yet another deflection, her curiosity and worry both growing a bit at this mysterious gift for her. Though the robot figured it was more a gift to her station then her directly which did mitigate the worry somewhat. She did bite back a smirk at the offer of a phone number however, she also held back on the temptation of simply reaching out and acquiring the number herself. No need to freak Mariette out anymore then she had. [color=9e0039][u][b]“And sure”[/b][/u][/color] She would reply instead pulling out what looked to be a flip phone from a compartment in her leg. [color=9e0039][u][b]“Ready when you are”[/b][/u][/color] Mariette fished up her phone from her Hyperspace Handbag, had a brief thought wondering if she could actually hear it ringing from in there, and then went on to exchange the number with Penny. With that done… [color=077ae6]‘That… was all I came for,’[/color] Mariette said, still looking spooked. Once again Penny would nod, putting away her fake phone as well, since there was no need to keep up the pretense. Quietly she wondered how Mariette would react to learning that Penny could now track her phone anywhere in the City, but she didn’t bother informing the other girl of that. [color=9e0039][u][b]“It's been interesting Mariette. You know where to find me”[/b][/u][/color] She would say turning partially to head back to the route she had been on before she had gotten side tracked. [color=9e0039][u][b]“Let me know if you find yourself in need of a key, hmm?”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would ask with a quirked eyebrow. She didn’t expect much from the offer, wasn’t even sure if Mariette would understand it, but she would offer it nevertheless. Mariette dropped her phone back into the Hammerspace Handbag, nodding a bit to Penny as partially turned back. That statement, though... Mariette did have to partially reason about what she could mean. [color=077ae6]‘… I’ll… keep it in mind,’[/color] Mariette said, not really in a position to reply with anything else. Penny just smiled at Mariette before fully turning back to the task she had set aside for herself. As now she had a lot more to think about then she did when she first set out on this patrol. [color=9e0039][u][b]“Catch you around”[/b][/u][/color] She would call over her shoulder [color=077ae6]‘… Bye for now,’[/color] Mariette simply said, before closing the portals, disappearing for now. Without turning to look Penny simply leapt off the building towards the next one. leaving the rooftop empty and with no proof of the meeting that had ever happened. [hr] Later, inside Mariette’s mansion, a somewhat skittish Mariette was seated in her dark office as one of her many girls opened the door. A girl with silver hair and a multitude of red little eyes in her hair, carried by six long black legs, a human’s torso on a spider’s body came in. [center][url=https://i.imgur.com/m4rTXOi.jpg][img]https://i.imgur.com/rMgrdyA.png[/img][/url][/center] [color=fa898b]‘Yes, Mariette? You wished for my presence?’[/color] Ronja asked, as her back leg closed the door behind her. [color=077ae6]‘Yes. I have need of your powers,’[/color] Mariette said, standing up and breathing out a bit heavily. [color=077ae6]‘I need you to change one of my memories, as well as wipe the memory of me requesting the change,’[/color] she said, looking sharply at Ronja. [color=fa898b]‘Oh?’[/color] the arachnid sounded out, curious. [color=fa898b]‘Why, of course. My powers are always at your service. What do you wish to change?’[/color] [color=077ae6]‘… I need to make sure I did not lie,’[/color] Mariette said, breathing out a little heavily. Weather she’d recount the story to Penny again or to Alicia herself, there was no benefit to retaining the knowledge of this lie. [color=077ae6]‘I always intended on letting the kidnapped girls go. … Understood?’[/color] Ronja took the moment to process what had just been requested of her… before she broke out into a little giggle, smiling a sly little smile at Mariette. [color=fa898b]‘I see. Naughty little mistress wants to change the past,’[/color] Ronja said, then giggled some more, with Mariette feeling just the slightest apprehensive about letting this spider-girl with a token for being sadistic into her head, but still. The arachnid came closer, and Mariette made herself close her eyes as Ronja’s little smirk came closer along with the taps of her many legs. [color=fa898b]‘Leave it to me. I will make everything… [i]just[/i] how you want them~’[/color]