Chapter Text
The first Monday since Trissy joined the Tarot Club had come. She had spent her morning at Emlyn's house, it was strangely relaxing to drink tea and listen to him talk about fashion. Or at least Trissy drank tea, the Sanguine's cup was filled with what looked like wine, but she very much doubted it was.
It was... interesting listening to him fawn over different styles of dresses. She knew his real interest laid in the dolls, but the clothing they wore was just as essential to the vision, as were the vivid lifelike faces.
It wasn't long before it was 3 o'clock, Emlyn had gone to his bedroom, she had opted to just lay down on the sofa in his living room. Her very much justified paranoia was oddly quiet in recent months, maybe dying once had truly made her unafraid of the possibility of death.
Her musing was interrupted when a crimson light burst from nowhere, enveloping her whole, as her eyes closed on instinct. When she opened them again, the sight that greeted her was the very same palace of fog and marble, but this time it wasn't just The Fool that was there.
Trissy looked around, the hazy visages of the other members greeted her. An enthusiastic voice almost immediately called out. "Good afternoon, Mr. Fool". It was a blonde lady, sitting closest to the fog-veiled God, Miss Justice.
The Spectator's then gaze turned to Trissy, it would appear that she had been noticed. The veteran member smiled warmly, before greeting every other member, allowing the Demoness to put a face, however shrouded in fog, to the card they held. Mr. Fool then announced the new member and their tarot, Miss Empress.
Some members spoke out that the didn't have any pages of Emperor Roselle's diary, which Emlyn had told her about during one of their morning meetings over tea and blood. The next part of the Tarot Schedule was commissions and trades, followed by the free discussion phase.
Trissy sat back and observed, there wasn't much she could offer in a trade, nor did she truly desire anything right now. During the free discussion she mentioned the actions and known locations of Rose School of Though members, but it seemed like none of the members were in the Southern Continent right now for it to matter.
Crimson once more filled her vision, before she found herself in the dimly lit living room of Emlyn's house. The Sanguine host didn't leave her waiting for long, as he emerged from his bedroom. It wasn't long before he bid her farewell, as he had nothing more to catch her up on, and the preparations for his ascension ritual were starting to place, he wouldn't have time to meet her daily anymore.
Trissy felt an unexpected tinge of sadness and longing. This was unexpected to say the least. Had she grown so fond of his presence in the past week, that she craved and yearned for the Sanguine? Unbelievable.
....
Months were passing by quickly, all the while the living conditions in Backlund were deteriorating as the war inched closer and closer to the heart of Loen. Emlyn and Trissy however were not as affected, the former being a vampire and the latter a demigod, neither suffered as nearly as much as the rest of the city by the shortages of food and rapidly rising prices.
Trissy was slowly starting to establish a presence of her own within the city. Meeting Mr. Star had been interesting experience, as both of them recognized each other from Tingen. A Red Gloves captain of the Evernight Church was actually sitting on the divine council of a different God, the Demoness couldn't help but laugh.
Leonard was apprehensive, to say the least, at the prospect of working with a mass murderer like Tris– or rather Trissy, but it was Klein who invited her, he knew, there must be a reason. I will ask him during the next meeting He decided in his head.
Becoming an informant of the Evening Church felt weirdly nice to Trissy, her mind wandered back to the Great Smog, at how the Angel of the Night had erased Lady Despair from existence, but opted out to spare her. At how she had remained hidden from the Demoness sect while plotting against the murderer of Edessak... Oh Edessak, how she missed him, how she hated herself for loving grieving him.
She sighed deeply, almost painfully. She shouldn't have remained hidden, there was a Saint of a higher sequences, almost guaranteed to be armed with Mystic Items, searching for her. Was she 'Concealed' all along? Was Mr. Fool working together with Evernight to prevent the apotheosis of the King? A throbbing headache plagued her for the rest of the day.
There wasn't much going on with the Temperance faction, they were laying low after the success of the previous operation.
Emlyn was spending more and more time away doing... something with the other Sanguines of Backlund, their meetings were reduced to maybe once a week, sometimes not even. She was starting to miss his serious facade and the immaturity that sometimes leaked through, despite his best efforts.
...
The months continued to tick by, until the enemy was at the gates. The combined forces of Faysac and Intis had pushed all the way to Backlund. It felt inevitable that the city would fall, the sound field artillery was as omnipresent as salt was in the ocean. It was not uncommon to see a starved corpse on the streets, and the air was thick with fear.
Emlyn should have already advanced to Demigod, but the two hadn't had time to catch up, with the inevitable end of the war, preparations were being made by the Sanguines of Backlund, and he was now one of their saints.
It was after dusk when suddenly her spiritual perception triggered, the vegetation started rapidly growing, the grass had reached the height a person, trees were suddenly twice as tall as mansions. There was only one explanation... The Earth Mother was in Backlund. The orange sunset appeared once again, defying all rationality, as the night had set already. The Twilight Giant must have appeared too. The war had escalated to Divine combat.
....
The war was over. Unbelievably, in Loen's favour.
The Earth Mother was secretly the Sanguine Ancestor Lilith, a conspiracy to deceive and backstab the God of Combat had been in place since the second epoch, the Mistress of Concealment truly was terrifying. And I am a pawn in her game... Trissy no longer felt fear, she had come to terms with the fact that she was living on borrowed time, she had died once and fate will have its due.
Before dismissing the gathering Mr. Fool called out to Mr. Star. "Archbishop Anthony will give you a Sealed Artifact tonight. A plain looking silver mirror, you are to give that mirror to Miss Empress, it contains the Beyonder characteristic of Unageing."
The expressions of everyone at the table was varying degrees of shock. Mr. Fool 'Himself' was providing her with the means to advance? That had never happened before, and it was a characteristic belonging to the church of Evernight?
Miss Empress must have assisted the Goddess somehow, on the orders Mr. Fool, and 'She' is directly repaying her with an advancement, that must be it Though the Hanged Man. Everyone had more or less reached a similarly wrong conclusion.
Of course, what can a mere sequence 4 do, to be useful to a True God with a large church beneath them, Evernight is grooming me for something... but what exactly Trissy felt resignation, she was a once again puppet unaware of the schemes pushing her life.
She turned her head to her only friend, Mr. Moon was looking at her but she couldn't see his expression through the fog, was it concern? Or was he happy for her? In that moment she felt her resolve turn to adamantine. Even as a puppet, you would still care about me, wouldn't you Emlyn? I may be a doll destined to burn in hell, but at least, I could be your doll
"I understand Mr. Fool, I am yours to command" She spoke while bowing her head, further reinforcing the incorrect conclusions of everyone gathered.
...
Sequence 3: Unageing.
Every Demoness of Unageing is forever youthful, skilled in resurrection, bizarrely difficult to kill, a darling of the mirror world, a true Gorgon…
Potion formula:
Main ingredients: Beyonder characteristic of Unageing;
Supplementary ingredients: Nine Mirror God fragments, 80 ml of Gorgon blood, an antique mirror over 500 years old with a corresponding mirror realm, 22 drops of water from a drowned person’s lungs;
Ritual: Find your mirror self, enslave them solely with your own power, or make them truly infatuated with you, or reconcile with them.
Trissy exhaled slowly after reading the slip of paper and looked at the ceiling. Mirror self... In the Mirror World... There is no way the Primordial Demoness will not notice me during this. Fuck.