LTSV - Harbingers of Change - 45 (Patreon)

Cece came over and set down a glass of water at her elbow.

"Is that something you've been worried about?" she asked and it was hard to interpret her expression. "Being exploited?"

Alan saved Mira from answering. "Literally everyone has been worried about that, Cece. We all know how Capitalism works. The only reason it hasn't been a problem yet is that the Gates have kept most people busy, but if I've already been getting calls from my shitty old man asking to arranged a meetup with her I can't imagine the rest of the world will be far behind. Sooner or later, her parents are going to realize they can rent her out to the highest bidders."

He turned to Mira, looking a little apologetic. "Sorry I didn't say anything before. I told him no and warned Volkov about it."

Mira squinted as she tried to chase a memory. "Is this the same person who was asking you to smuggle out Dungeon goods to him?" she asked.

He shot finger guns at her. "The same."

"Ugh."

"It goes without saying…" Soneares interjected, "…that you should not do that or any of the things you mentioned just now."

"I don't plan on it," Alan defended himself. "I got my oldest uncle to deal with it. He's good at reining in my old man's get rich quick schemes."

"I'd like to know more about this Demon Queen," Cece asked. She'd dropped into a squat next to Mira's spot on the couch. "What do you know about her? I thought the Demon Realm was ruled by a gerontocratic High Council. I asked Morwen about it the other day and she didn't say anything about the demons having a monarchy."

Mira glanced at Soneares who puffed up her chest.

"Our Dark Lady is the ancient consort of the primordial Lord of Shadow," she explained. "It is true that our society is run on a day-to-day basis by a high council of Wise Ones. The Dark Lord and Lady are only semi-political. They experience a cycle of death and rebirth that corresponds with periods of turbulent change somewhere in the Grand Structure—that is what demons have traditionally called the multiverse. When they re-enter the Structure, the Wise Ones pause their usual governance and defer to the Dark Lord's guidance. We are ruled by those who came before is and the Dark Lord is our ultimate ancestor."

"That sounds…." Alan pursed his lips as words failed him. "…you're describing a chaotic Dalai Llama. Are we sure that's a good thing? The title 'Dark Lord' is not inspiring confidence in me."

Soneares shrugged. "It's a very exciting time, if you're a demon. The Dark Lord's emergence always ushers in an age of heroes, villains, and legend. We're all going to be part of that, now."

Mira was not so poorly socialized that she was surprised when she had a full escort to the small civic building that had agreed to loan the Triumvirate a room to hold audiences in. She was accompanied by her entire team, Soneares, Morwen, and Adra in both his bodies—although 'Mason' would be appearing as a character witness for the opposition.

Syrith was present, but in disguise as her Grace, the Dark Lady Alanamira. Unlike Adra, Mira could only use one 'identity' at a time, even if she appeared to be both people insofar as the System was concerned. They'd gone back and forth about who should occupy which 'role', but ultimately Syrith was better equipped to speak on behalf of the Demons than she was to pretend to be Mira.

A good portion of the day before their adjudication had been spent with Mira standing around in her original form, letting Syrith practice copying her face and demeanor. Syrith was as good of a copycat as Mira had ever seen, but even she needed as much practice as she could possibly manage in such a short amount of time.

That meant Mira hadn't had time to pay much attention to what Morwen went out and bought for 'Her Grace' to wear to the meeting.

Syrith was dressed from the chin down in dark, brick red. She had on a long red coat with a matching turtleneck and wide-legged slacks on underneath. They'd found matching red pointy boots to go with it and a dark red handbag for her to carry. Syrith eschewed all ornamentation save for a gold clasp on the coat—and a massive golden crown of stars that freely orbited her brow through a subtle movement spell anchored to a golden cuff on one of her ears. She wore her hair in a loose arrangement knotted and affixed with a few gold pins at around knee height to keep the ends off the floor.

Mira was just surprised that Syrith hadn't shown up in a full gown with a train.

The building was old; all brick and VCT tiles with yellowing walls and brown trim. A security guard ushered them into a small conference room that had tables and chairs arranged like a little court room.

Virgil's people had beaten them to the room, but if they'd tried to talk directly to the Triumvirate Rep, it hadn't gone anywhere. The representative, an older elf woman, was surrounded by her own aides who were handing her papers and discussing things in low voices. There was a third table in the room opposite the Rep's and parallel to Virgil's table, which Mira took to be their territory for the day.

Syrith, posing as the Dark Lady, took the first available seat and then gestured imperiously for Mira to join her.

A shadow immediately crossed the table and Mira looked up to see Helena standing over her.

Helena was in her usual black-and-white. Today, she wore a two-piece wite tweed suit by Coco Chavelle with a little black silk jabot shaped like a rose and a jaunty black pocket scarf affixed with a pearl brooch. She wore matching pearl drops in her ears and was carrying a black Catalina Ferrera clutch in her gloved hands that had a clasp made to look like two giant gold calla lilies. To finish the outfit, she was wearing a black flat-brimmed hat by Delaire, indoors no less.

The whole ensemble was so ridiculous that Mira couldn't help but ask, "Did you get lost on the way to church?"

Helena's cheeks colored. "That's a fine way to speak to your mother," she snapped.

"My mother is still in Qasira," Mira replied coolly as she examined her nails. They were starting to grow out, which was a shame. The spa she'd had them done at last still hadn't reopened and her current set had survived an entire Dungeon. She wanted to get the same manicurist again, but didn't know where the poor woman had gone. "She would have been here, but she already had several surgeries booked for this week and couldn't reschedule. My grandparents are already on a plane, however. My grandfather wanted me to tell you that he's very interesting in speaking to both you and my father. His lawyers will be in contact as soon as he lands."

Helena blanched and took a step back. "Who told you about Salma?" she hissed.

"You actually thought you could hide her from me?" Mira asked, truly curious. "In this day and age? I'm honestly surprised you managed to pull it off for as long as you did. I don't even look like you."

Helena rallied herself. "It doesn't matter. I am the woman who raised you. Not her. Now, you will call off this ridiculous farce. When have we ever treated you badly? You have had the best of everything a girl could ever want even if you never had the sense to cherish it. Where do you think that fancy car of yours came from? Your designer dresses?"

"Presumably, they came from the rental income from all the properties my great grandmother settled on me that my father has been managing," Mira drawled. "Although, I'm at least some of it also came from the $10,000 he received every month for my care. I'm sure he asked for more. It was such a shame to learn about the 'two pony' precedent in these kinds of divorce disputes."

Syrith, still posing as the Dark Lady, tilted her head in Mira's direction. It was so strange, seeing her own face looking back at her without a mirror in play.

"The 'two pony' precedent?" she asked and again, Mira shivered to hear her own voice being spoken to her only slightly distorted because she wasn't hearing it from the inside of her own head.

"It's from a landmark divorce case between two wealthy human families," Mira explained. "My grandfather's lawyers mentioned it to me when they were explaining what payments Virgil received from them on my behalf. The judge in that case said 'No child, no matter how wealthy the parents, needs to be provided with more than two ponies.'"

Mira glanced towards Virgil's side and was surprised to see Viola was with them. Interesting. She didn't look happy. She was seated in some of the folding chairs set out for spectators and witnesses, but she was clutching her purse in her lap with both hands looking like she'd rather be anywhere else. It was an expression that bypassed boredom and discomfort completely.

'What are you doing here?' Mira wondered. '…and was it your idea to come?'

Helena was still talking. "Samira, it's not too late. You can stop this now and we will pretend this never happened. It's clearly our fault for not meeting with that Guildmaster Volkov in person. You are clearly under bad influences there. Daddy has decided to break that contract with LivingShadow sign you on with SunBlade so you and your sister can support one another. Doesn't that sound nice?"

'Is this woman on drugs?' Mira wondered, trying to subtly check Helena's pupils. It was hard to tell in this light, but she did seem to recall Helena skimming pills from her daughter's prescriptions and even going so far as to call it the 'mommy tax', like she was taking away Halloween candy.

Syrith visibly bored of Helena and waved to Mister White and Mister Green. "Escort this woman back to her people," she directed, sounding lazy even if Mira knew she was anything but. She waited until Helena was out of earshot before she added in a low voice, just for Mira's ears, "Are you absolutely positive that you think they'll be more annoying to us dead than alive?"

"Patience," Mira murmured. "There's a line. Wait until my family overseas has gotten their pound of flesh. Then I'll be happy to hear your ideas."

Syrith chuckled. "As I said, these are exciting times to live in."

Notes:

Coco Chavelle - Chanel (I figure even if Chanel is problematic in this universe, Helena wouldn't know or care.) 

Catalina Ferrera - Carolina Herrera

Delaire - Dior

Qasira - Qatar

The Two Pony Precedent - The Three Pony Principle (This is a real thing)