Chapter Text
>Be the Demoness.
She doesn't answer to that name, apparently.
>Be the Handmaid.
She doesn't care much for that name either, but she supposes it will suffice. It's not like she has a surfeit of superior names to choose from.
==>
You are standing on the roof of a large communal hive, located on the green moon orbiting the planet Alternia. The Felt's massive abode is nearby.
It is currently six centuries after the Reckoning wiped troll society off Alternia and the rest of the galaxy.
>Handmaid: Stare up at the night sky.
You are already doing that.
One could say that you are expecting a guest and intend to greet them. However, one would be wrong. "Expecting" implies a degree of uncertainty that, for you, simply does not exist. That's just one of the perks of the power that you wield. You know that a guest will arrive soon and you know that you will be the one to greet them.
==>
You have seen with your own eyes the exact moment when Her Imperious Condescension will return to Alternia, and the moment, a few seconds later, when you will enter her battleship's throne room unbidden, to speak with the Condesce. You know with similar certainty that the Condesce, already one of the cruelest and most dangerous trolls in the galaxy when she was in full control of her wits, has been driven to the brink of madness by the boredom of a six-century interstellar voyage taken completely alone. You can see that your conversation with the Condesce (and, in fact, any conceivable conversation that you and she could hold under these circumstances) will culminate in violence, and you know precisely how your fight with the Condesce will end.
Knowing this, you are not concerned. In fact, you are eagerly anticipating this confrontation; perhaps (no, certainly) more than you have anticipated any prior event in your entire life.
>Handmaid: Skip to the end.
Don't be ridiculous.
Sure, as the Handmaid of a time-travelling demon, and an undisputed master of clockwork majyyks, it is not strictly necessary for you to wait like a plebeian for the arrival of the Battleship Condescension. You could, if you wished, travel forward to that moment right now, or even sooner.
But you are not going to do that. You are taking this moment to gather your thoughts before the meeting, to insure that your own eagerness does not cause any missteps on your part. You are going to fulfill the demon's final order with perfect composure.
Besides, you're up on this rooftop to speak to someone else first.
>Handmaid: Wait, what?
Ah, you forget occasionally that not everyone is gifted with the same sight that you are, and apologize for any confusion you unintentionally caused with your abrupt mid-exposition subject shift.
In any case, this guest you're about to greet has nothing whatsoever to do with the demon's orders. Temporal inevitability speaks to you with a far more compelling-
Oh look there she is now.
>Handmaid: Regard guest.
An audible crackle and a brief flash of multicolored light herald your guest's arrival.
She looks remarkably like you. Her dress, the same cut and color as your own, is stained with blue blood. Her horns are smaller than yours, but are curved in the same shape. Her hair is cut in the same style as yours, but the bangs framing her face are not as long and oh for crying out loud you're not fooling anyone she's just you from the past.
She appears to be ignoring you.
>Be the past Handmaid.
You are now-
oh fuck
what have you done
>Past Handmaid: Stare blankly at the Felt Manor for at least half an hour.
blood everywhere
it was so easy
what have
oh fuck
--CURRENT anachronicAcolyte [CAA] began speaking with PAST anachronicAcolyte [PAA]--
CAA: y0u d0 n0t understand why y0u came here
PAA: aaaaaaaaa!
>Past Handmaid: Flip the fuck out.
Please. You were trained better than that. Instead of flailing about randomly in a blind panic, you teleport twenty feet to the side. You reappear, crouched and ready for strife, with a cuestickwand in each hand.
Then you recognize the person who sneaked up on you, and you lower your weapons.
PAA: wh0 are-
PAA: 0h
PAA: y0ure me
PAA: but fr0m the future
CAA: 0_0
PAA: c0rrect?
CAA: y0u d0 n0t understand why y0u are here but i think i d0
PAA: what
>Past Handmaid: Listen to your future self.
CAA: that mansi0n is where y0u spent y0ur childh00d
CAA: the site 0f a life c0nsisting 0f is0lati0n
CAA: training f0r a future 0f servitude
CAA: deprivati0n 0f luxuries like furniture 0r breathable air
CAA: fights with y0ur lusus
CAA: speaking 0f which
CAA: y0u d0 realize h0w very unusual it is f0r a tr0ll t0 deliberately try t0 kill their lusus
CAA: which is exactly what y0u tried t0 d0 every time
PAA: yes
PAA: but in 0ur defense he was a terrible lusus
CAA: yes a terrible lusus and a terrible childh00d
CAA: y0u wished t0 escape
CAA: t0 be free 0f the whip
CAA: but
CAA: s0metimes instead
CAA: y0u wished that the whip was in y0ur hands
==>
CAA: and n0w it is
CAA: y0ur servitude has begun in earnest and the terms 0f servitude dictate that y0u are n0w the 0ppress0r
CAA: and y0ure n0t sure if y0ure 0kay with that
CAA: in spite 0f the best eff0rts 0f y0ur lusus s0me spark 0f m0rality is still burning in the back 0f y0ur mind
CAA: n0t en0ugh t0 make y0u feel h0rr0r 0ver the lives y0u have just taken
CAA: but en0ugh t0 realize that y0u sh0uld feel h0rrified
CAA: en0ugh t0 make y0u seri0usly w0nder
CAA: whether y0u were better 0ff as the victim
CAA: and that questi0n is what br0ught y0u back t0 the h0use 0f y0ur childh00d
CAA: a time that was n0 better than y0ur present
CAA: but at least was bad in an entirely different way
CAA: 0_0
PAA: was i
CAA: what
PAA: was i better 0ff as the victim
CAA: i cant say and f0r that i am s0rry
CAA: i knew the answer 0nce but i f0rg0t
CAA: i havent th0ught ab0ut it in years
==>
CAA: if it makes y0u feel any better
CAA: my feelings t0wards that mansi0n are even stranger than y0urs
CAA: i kn0w that this is the last time i will ever see it
CAA: i 0ught t0 be happy ab0ut that but im n0t
CAA: instead i feel just a little bit
CAA: sad
==>
CAA: kismesis f0r a building
CAA: h0w messed up is that
PAA: pretty bad i supp0se
CAA: maybe there is s0mething seri0usly wr0ng with my think pan
CAA: maybe its been medically damaged by my terrible childh00d and unnaturally l0ng life
PAA: but if y0ure me
PAA: and y0ure crazy
PAA: then that just means that when i bec0me y0u i will be crazy t00
PAA: that d0esnt make me feel better at all
CAA: i didnt think it w0uld
CAA: but it felt g00d saying it 0_0
PAA: y0ure weird
PAA: and im g0ing t0 be weird
>Past Handmaid: Try to ignore your possibly-crazy future self.
You turn away from your strange conversational partner and resume staring at the Felt Manor. Future you doesn't get the hint.
CAA: let me tell y0u
CAA: ab0ut the years that separate y0u and me
PAA: d0 we escape
CAA: n0
PAA: then i am n0t interested
CAA: it was n0t a request
PAA: 0_0
CAA: f0r a time y0u will d0ubt every w0rd i have t0ld y0u and am g0ing t0 tell y0u
CAA: then y0ur p0wer will gr0w exp0nentially and y0u will kn0w en0ugh t0 n0 l0nger care ab0ut my w0rds
CAA: in the past y0u have heard the future as a whisper fr0m the sky
CAA: s00n y0u will see time itself unf0ld at y0ur fingertips like a star chart
CAA: y0u will see h0w slight the difference between time and space truly is
==>
CAA: at the dem0ns 0rders y0u will incite rev0luti0ns t0 0verthr0w just rulers
CAA: and will crush uprisings against unjust rulers
CAA: y0u will kill any highbl00d wh0 v0ices d0ubts c0ncerning the hem0spectrum
CAA: y0u will ravage the c0untryside t0 ensure the l0wbl00ds remain in famine and p0verty
CAA: y0u will stain y0ur hands with the bl00d 0f c0untless inn0cents
CAA: but
CAA: n0t always willingly
CAA: y0u will argue with the dem0n
CAA: y0u will refuse certain 0rders 0utright
CAA: and he will t0rture y0u int0 submissi0n
CAA: i believe he ch0se y0u f0r his handmaid specifically because he wanted s0me0ne str0ng-willed
CAA: s0me0ne he w0uld have t0 break bef0re they w0uld serve his purp0se
CAA: because he likes t0 break pe0ple
CAA: yet 0ver the sweeps y0ur perennial defiance will dull even his sadism
CAA: he will gr0w weary 0f y0u
CAA: and wish he had ch0sen s0me0ne else a little m0re receptive t0 training and discipline
CAA: s0 c0ngratulati0ns f0r that
CAA: even th0ugh its ultimately meaningless
>Past Handmaid: Ignore her harder.
It's not working!
CAA: because eventually y0u will be me
CAA: and i have fulfilled all his 0rders
CAA: save 0ne
CAA: which i will fulfill in less than a quarter-h0ur
CAA: and then i will be free
>Past Handmaid: Contemplate the possibility of screwing destiny via time travel.
CAA: and n0w y0u are thinking 0f her
CAA: y0urself six sweeps 0ld
CAA: still impris0ned in that mansi0n as we speak
CAA: n0t yet a killer
CAA: y0u w0nder if there is s0mething y0u can d0 t0 help her and theref0re y0urself
CAA: but y0u have already learned that physically escaping fr0m the dem0n is n0t p0ssible
CAA: there is n0where and n0when she can g0 t0 prevent his finding her
CAA: except the afterlife
CAA: y0u recall y0ur m0ments 0f deepest despair when y0u attempted t0 take y0ur 0wn life but were prevented
CAA: y0u w0nder if perhaps y0ur p0wer and hers c0mbined are en0ugh t0 0verp0wer the curse and end her suffering
CAA: and the answer is yes
CAA: it w0uld be trivial f0r y0u t0 kill her
CAA: but it w0uld n0t d0 any g00d
CAA: killing her
CAA: 0r y0urself f0r that matter if it were p0ssible
CAA: w0uld merely create a d00med timeline
CAA: instead 0f sparing her fr0m y0ur future y0u w0uld create a gratuit0us duplicate 0f y0ur past
CAA: i think it a tad arr0gant t0 assume that littering the afterlife with six-sweep-0ld c0pies 0f myself w0uld be a g00d deed
PAA: bl00dy hell dammit
>Past Handmaid: Oh for crying out loud...
PAA: tell me
PAA: crazy all-kn0wing future me
PAA: in the future d0 i ever shut up
CAA: yes
CAA: quite 0ften in fact
CAA: i havent sp0ken t0 any0ne besides the dem0n since
CAA: since i was y0u 0_0
CAA: isnt it amusingly misf0rtunate that the 0ne chance i get t0 speak t0 s0me0ne else
CAA: i am the s0me0ne else
CAA: its me
CAA: fr0m a m0ment when i am in n0 m00d t0 talk
CAA: 0r t0 listen t0 my 0wn rambling
PAA: yes a real laugh ri0t
CAA: ha
PAA: ha
CAA: ha
PAA: ha
CAA: ha
PAA: y0u d0 realize i am being sarcastic right
CAA: yes but i am n0t
CAA: i can say with c0mplete sincerity that this is the happiest i have been in my life
==>
PAA: what
PAA: y0u just said s0me 0f the m0st depressing garbage i have ever heard in my life
PAA: and n0w y0ure saying y0ure happy
PAA: either y0u really are diseased in the think pan
PAA: 0r y0ure trying t0 feed me h00fbeast manure
PAA: seri0usly
PAA: y0ure n0t even smiling
CAA: i never learned h0w
CAA: it just l00ks stupid when i try
PAA: 0_0
PAA: clearly speaking with y0u was a mistake
PAA: 0ne i w0nt make again
>Past Handmaid: Abscond.
An audible crackle and a flash of multicolored light herald your departure. Your spooky talkative future self is left alone on the roof.