Flavie

She was walking down a small, dark alley when she caught a glimpse of movement in the corner of her eye. A gleam of steel, a swush of displaced air.

But this time, Anna didn't have to think. Her body, now hardwired for survival after her near-death experience with Demidicus, moved on its own.

A new, passive skill, born from that brutal lesson, activated. The assassin’s dagger slicing through the space where her heart had been a millisecond before.

The orange-tailed catgirl landed in a crouch, her eyes wide with shock at the miss.

“If you came 2 weeks earlier, I would've died but now your claws are too dull for me.” She looked down at the furious, restrained girl. 

“Now who are you? Why try to assassinate me?”

The assassin panted, glaring up at her with pure hatred. “Flavie. That’s all you need to know. And I’ll kill you even if it takes my last breath.”

Anna froze. Her eye twitched.

…Wait. Flavie? Flavourie? …Don’t tell me—

Anna stormed into the temporary royal quarters where Bella and Serenya were now staying.

She was dragging the furious, magically-chained calico catgirl behind her.

She pointed a dramatic, accusatory finger at Serenya, who was sitting on a plush cushion, happily sipping a bowl of milk. 

“There. She's your little sister, right?! She nearly gutted me in an alley not five minutes ago.”

Serenya blinked, her ears twitching with innocent confusion as she looked at the hissing catgirl. “Nya? …Who’s that, nya? Serenyan doesn't know!”

Anna’s voice was a low, dangerous growl. “You said you had a little sister named Flavourie. Well, guess what?! Reality has called your bluff. This cat just tried to kill me.”

Serenya tilted her head, a look of genuine, dawning wonder on her face. 

“Ehh? But Serenyan only made that up, nya~ She was supposed to be a tragic plot device to gain your sympathy! How could she actually exist—?!”

“Let me go!!! I’m not a slave!” Flavie hissed from the floor, struggling against her bonds. “I’m Flavie of Minilon! The best Assassin!!”

Anna’s composure finally snapped. She let go of the chains and grabbed Serenya by the shoulders, “See?! she even has the same name! what kind of cursed, narratively convenient life are you living?!”

Serenya just purred, a smug, happy rumble, completely unbothered by being shaken. “Nyaa~ destiny loves Serenyan, doesn’t it? First headpats, now long-lost sisters are falling out of the ceiling to attack my friends.”

Bella, who had been watching from the side, finally broke into a fit of laughter.

“What is your problem with me?!” Anna demanded, “What did I ever do to you?”

Flavie sneered. “You ended the war! You brought peace! You've ruined the economy! My contract kill rate has dropped ninety nine percent in the last week because everyone is too busy being hopeful and rebuilding! I have lost my job because of you!! You have to take responsibility!”

Anna stared. 

This was about unemployment.

“So you want me to hire you?” Anna asked.

“Yes! Take me with you!” Flavie demanded.

Serenya chuckled, "Nya! Anna have to be careful nya! She is under queen's protection..."

“Wait,” she snapped back, “The knight murderer. The one who has been decapitating guards for the last five years… Are you that?”

Flavie looked up, “Yes. But no offense! I did it because I got paid!” she insisted, “I’m not a serial murderer who wants knights dead or anything. It’s just that many people wanted them dead, and I just do what they want! It’s a job!”

Anna’s eye twitched. “And you're under the Queen’s protection?”

“That’s right! Before I take any contract, I ask her if killing this person is okay or not. For the good of the kingdom, you know. Can’t just go around killing important people without permission.”

“And that time you tried to kill me,” Anna said, “that means the Queen agreed?”

“Yes!” Flavie confirmed brightly. “Everyone knows vampires are bad! Kill the spooky vampire lady who just showed up. It's just business!”

"Tell me more..."

She rattled off her life of crime as if she were discussing her grocery list. “The contract on Sir Tetbald… A rival merchant wanted his patrol route cleared. That knight in the pantry? A disgruntled lover paid for that one. All sanctioned, all paid for. It’s not a crime, It’s a job!”

Bella and Serenya just stared, their minds unable to process this level of amoral, cheerful professionalism.

Anna, however, looked disgusted. She had found a creature with a worldview even more alien and broken than her own. 

She finally understood.

“So you tried to kill me again tonight because… what? The Queen gave a new order?”

“No!” Flavie huffed, straining against her magical chains. “I tried to kill you because you ruined business! The war is over! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a high-paying assassination contract when everyone is suddenly trying to get along?! You have to take responsibility!” She glared at Anna, her expression one of pure, righteous indignation.

“So take me with you! Hire me! It’s the least you can do!”

She unsealed Flavie’s mana but kept the chains on, a necessary precaution. “Come on then, let’s see if you can handle my other 2 teammates.” she said, and began the walk back to the command center, her new, very tall, and very annoying shadow in tow.

They arrived at the bustling hub of activity near the mine entrance. The Queen was in a deep, serious discussion with Zebril. Terran stood nearby while Maren, in human form, was happily helping Pietta distribute blankets to some of the freed elves.

“…and we will create four grand statues in the new city square,” the Queen was saying, “In honor of the Four Pillars of Minilon: Nennoch, Grizellum, Ingeldamu, and even Yarte, for the hero he once was.”

Zebril, ever the pragmatist, just scowled. “With all due respect, Your Majesty,” she grumbled, “we barely have the budget for timber and stone to rebuild the barracks, let alone four giant, sentimental statues.”

“Ugh…” She stoned, “But it’s cool!”

Anna smiled as she approached. “I think we can build those later, Your Majesty. Let the living have homes before we build monuments for the dead.”

Zebril is shocked, “That’s a surprising, good quote coming from you.”

Her attention then shifted to Pietta whose now working diligently beside Zebril.

Pietta looked up, saw Anna, and gave a small, shy smile before returning to her task.

“Captain Zebril,” Anna began, “What is this?”

“This is Pietta,” Zebril said, placing a firm, protective hand on the girl’s shoulder. “She is under my personal guardianship now. I am providing her with shelter, food, and a proper education in practical matters. She is a bright girl.”

“So she’s working for you, pretty sure that’s child labor.” Anna stated.

“She is an apprentice,” Zebril corrected, “She is learning valuable life skills. I dare you to say that again...”

Before the debate could continue, the Queen gasped, her eyes wide as she saw who Anna had brought with her. “Flavie! You’re… you’re showing your face?”

The calico catgirl now is crouching, licking her hand and rubbing it on her cat ears, “There is no reason to hide anymore, Your Majesty!” she declared. “No one needs an assassin when there is peace and cooperation! My business has been destroyed!” She then gestured proudly to Anna. “So, Flavie has sold her whole body to Anna!”

Anna’s eye twitched violently. “Don’t make it sound weird!” she hissed.

“But it’s true!” Flavie said, completely unbothered by the chains or Anna’s fury. She stand up, using her 168cm height to loom over the 156cm Anna with a smug, teasing grin.

“You are now my master! My employer! My reason for being! You are responsible for me now. So, what’s for dinner? This one has very expensive tastes.”

“Your employment consists of following my orders and not being a public nuisance. That’s it.”

“So no dinner?” Flavie pouted, her ears drooping theatrically.

“You’ll get standard rations like everyone else.”

“But I’m not standard! I’m a one-in-a-million genetic miracle!” Flavie insisted. “I require premium-grade fish and possibly a warm place to nap. It’s in my contract.”

“We don’t such contract,” Anna stated coldly.

“Then let’s negotiate one!” Flavie countered brightly. “I’m thinking a base salary, plus danger pay, and a comprehensive dental plan.”

Anna turned and walked away, her headache getting worse by the second. 

Flavie, still chained, just grinned and was about to follow with another witty retort when a massive shadow fell over her.

She looked up. And up. Ars Terran was standing there, all 190cm of silent, indifferent power, looking down at her. The ancient weapon’s green eyes were not angry, but they were not kind either. They were like stone.

“You are bothering the master,” Terran stated, “I suggest you cease this inefficient behavior before she re-evaluates the cost-benefit analysis of keeping you alive.”

Flavie’s smug, teasing grin vanished.

“I…” Flavie started, her voice suddenly small. “I just… I don’t know how to act around her,” she admitted, looking down at the ground. “Everyone I’ve ever known has been a client, a target, or a mark. This is… different.”

Before Anna could even process this sudden, jarring shift to sincerity, Maren, in her human form, bounced over to the chained calico catgirl. She took Flavie’s hand, her expression one of bright, earnest welcome.

“It’s okay!” Maren chirped happily. “You can be on our team now! Anna needs more friends! And you have a fluffy tail!”

Terran gave a single nod. “The decision has been made,” she declared with the finality of a mountain. “You are one of us now. Do not cause unnecessary problems.”

Anna, who had stopped a few feet away, spun around, “Since when did I ask for your opinions?!”

“I am the master here! I make the decisions! You can’t just… adopt a stray assassin!”

Maren and Terran just looked at her, completely unfazed.

“But you were going to anyway, right?” Maren asked.

“The matter is settled,” the earth weapon stated, and turned to walk away, her part in the conversation apparently over.

Anna was left standing there, flanked by her two ridiculously powerful, insubordinate holy weapons, her new, deeply annoying assassin, and the dawning, horrifying realization that she was no longer in charge of her own team.