The Devil's Foundry
Chapter 5: Cracks in the Dam

My impromptu trial didn’t disrupted the constant churn of Lady’s Port.

Oh, I imagined people were still talking about it. I’d clearcut a whole burgeoning class of would-be landlords, but the struggle to turn my mishmash of buildings into a proper town waited for no woman.

Least of all me.

“Here I thought a council was supposed to give you less work,” Electra said.

Of course, some people made their own time.

“I’d think you’d have more.” I gestured to the chair next to my desk. “Already finished?”

“Nah, those new kids with the Electromancer class or something have mastered circuits.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Kids?”

“Adults! Adults, I swear!” She waved her hands. “They’ve just, y’know, never been farther than daddy’s farm.”

I gave a single laugh. It sounded thin. “You’d think most people would be a bit more seasoned after the stampede.”

Electra shrugged. “Oh we got a pretty good self defense force, proud of them. When’s the award ceremony?”

I groaned. “Add it to the pile.”

“You don’t have to.”

“It’s important.” I ran a hand down my face, rubbing my aching eyes. “People understood why we needed to rebuild so quickly after the attack, but I can’t just let a whole army of combat classers go unrewarded.”

Electra laughed. “Just let Rel organize it, everybody loves her right now.”

I huffed.

“What?” She raised an eyebrow. “Trouble in paradise.”

“Is everything a cliché to you?” I asked. “I’m just…annoyed that she undercut me.”

“For days?”

“I haven’t had time to talk with her for days.”

“Oh come on.” Electra stood up. “I haven’t been on the dating scene since I put on the mask, but even I know that’s a load of shiiiitaki mushrooms.”

“One day I’ll get you to swear again,” I said.

She shoved a finger in my face. “No distracting me. I did not spend an entire narrative arc rooting for the two of you for you to blow up your relationship first thing.”

“What, exactly, in our life constitutes a narrative arc?”

Electra shrugged. “I dunno, founding a town together at least. Now get up already. I know you’re not sitting there because you have work to do.”

I sighed. “Fine.” I pushed myself to my feet. The pain in my hip sharpened to a blazing stab the moment I stood under my own power. I slumped.

“Woah, Em.” Electra snagged my arm. “When did that happen?” She settled me back in the chair I’d just left. Then she paused, staring at my trembling leg. “Or…how long have you been hiding that?”

I massaged my hip, tired fingers pressing against the aching muscle. “Fucked up something when I took the golden dust in the battle with Hawkwright,” I said. “Mostly it’s just aches, but after long days—all of my days—it flares up like this.

Her brow furrowed. “So, it’s been getting worse.”

“Something like that.” I waved off her concern. “Every power-boosting drug in existence has unspecified side effects that turn you into an invalid.”

“I feel like you should be more concerned about this,” Electra said.

“And do what?” I slumped backwards; just standing up had taken most of my energy. “I burned all the information on the stuff when we attacked Silverwall. We don’t have the tools to diagnose what’s going on with me ourselves. And we couldn’t treat it even then.

“A toxin-eater demon or something could help?”

“I tried that.” I threw my arm over my face. “So far, I’ve made a killing with dumb demons that want simple things. The more complicated the concept, the more intelligent the demon. Nothing that could help me has a price I’m interested in paying.”

“Isn’t Dave a pretty complicated demon?” she asked.

“Electra,” I replied. “Earth fought the first Corporate War over data privacy. I’m giving Dave all of our data.”

She hummed. “Yeah, actually that seems pretty valuable.”

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“We were pressed for options at the time.” I shrugged. “Dave is cool though. He told me how he’s part of a sect that worships secrets for their own sake, instead of the one that sells them or whatever. It’s a very big to-do in the Hells.”

“Fascinating.” Her voice was dry. “Demonic office politics. Now what are we gonna do about your problem?”

“I could get the soot imps to make me a wheelchair,” I said. “Mr. Burns has to be getting bored of making nails.”

“That’s a good start.”

“What?” I half sat up. “No, I’m not riding around in a wheelchair like some kind of invalid.”

“Empress.” Electra folded her arms. “That’s rude.”

My mouth flapped. “I—uh, none of the buildings are up to code?”

“Well, that’s something we can fix.” Electra looked around. “It probably wouldn’t be too hard to get a ramp in here. Or have people carry you up the stairs. You’re kind of a head of state.”

I groaned. “How quickly I became a cog in the machine.” My eyes traced patters in the wood grain ceiling as they wound to dead end after dead end. “Here we are, paying taxes, supporting a standing army. It took Ishanti a month and a piece of paper to turn me into a dog of the state.”

“There it is!” Electra rounded on me. “I knew there was something else bothering you.”

“Yes.” I rubbed my eyes. “I’m annoyed at how quickly I became like everyone else.”

“I really don’t think you’re like anybody else, Empress.”

“I took over some land, made myself the queen of my own little fiefdom,” I said. “Big whoop.”

“So?” Electra shrugged. “We saved a bunch of people from getting eaten by monsters, and at least one girl from getting used to incubate parasites for the rest of her life. That sounds like a pretty good track record to me.” She paused. “Also, like, you never struck me as the type to have regrets.”

“Regrets?” I leaned further back in the chair. “No, I just.” I long groan escaped my lips. “It’s stupid.”

“Want me to get Rel?”

“No, she wouldn’t get it.” I waved a hand. “It’s about…us.”

“Aaaah.” Electra nodded, hopping onto the desk.

I rolled my eyes as she kicked her feet, brushing a long strand of her blond hair out of her face.

“It’s about why you got into the business,” she said.

I snorted. “I hate it when you’re insightful.”

“Aww, c’mon. Don’t lie.”

I let out a long breath. “God I’m tired.”

“So what’s your reason?” Electra asked. “I’m easy. I became a hero to help people; it’s kinda obvious when you look at me.” She laughed. “You’d think I’d have a come to Jesus moment, but nope.”

I raised an eyebrow.

She punched my shoulder. “Hey, it’s why we get along now. I help people, you help people. It works.”

I rubbed my eyes again. “I wanted to break things. And now here I am, day after day, in the fucking office, building a society.”

She didn’t laugh, which really, all I could have asked for.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m building god damned apartments, Electra,” I said. “There’s nothing new here. I’m just walking down the same steps as everyone else has. And someday, we’ll wake up in a copy of our world, and I wouldn’t have changed everything.”

“Why’s that such a bad thing?”

I met her eyes. “Because my goal was to tear it all down. Now I’m rebuilding it.” I snorted. “Or at least, I told myself I did. Maybe it was all window dressing. I just…” I pulled a face. “I thought it would be easier to make something new.”

Electra shrugged. “I mean, you kinda are cribbing notes from Earth’s greatest hits.” She pulled her mirror out of her pocket. “Cell phones, root of all evil, you know.”

I snorted. “Good one.”

“Aww, thanks Em.” She smirked. “I knew you cared.”

“Give me some credit, at least.” I sighed. “I skipped the gilded age.”

“See? You can do things differently.” Electra patted my shoulder. “Maybe start by making the apartments wheelchair accessible.”

“Yes, that’ll solve all of our problems.”

“I mean, it might solve a few?” She shrugged. “I don’t know why you’re so upset all of a sudden.”

“Because…” I stopped. “I don’t know. I just thought…It would be easier.” I pinched my nose. “Whatever. It’s stupid, like I said. I’ll redraw the blueprints. People should be able to get up their own building.”

“That’s the spirit.” Electra grinned. “Sometimes it’s a bunch of little changes that can add up to a big change.”

I shook my head. “You’re so trite.” With a grunt, I levered myself back up to my feet, stretching my legs. “Help me downstairs. I think there’s still a cot in one of the rooms.”

“Or,” Electra hopped off the desk, “I could get Relia.”

“What? No.” I glared. “I’m exhausted, the last thing I need to do is have another talk.”

“Who said anything about a talk.” Her smile widened. “Bet she’d love to tuck you in.”

“Wait, no!”

But she danced away from my hands, vanishing down the hall in a flash of lightning. I tried to run after her, but only made it as far as the door before my leg cramped again. I grunted, hands catching the side of the door. “Electra!”

“Mistress.”

“Ah.” I sighed, slumping against the door frame. “Up here.”

Rel’s foot steps echoed as she raced up the stairs. She took one look at me, half-collapsed in the door to my office, and rushed over.

I’ll admit, a part of me had the gall to be pleased with that.

“Via.” Her arms slipped beneath mine, helping me upright. “I was just looking for you, how—” She shook her head. “Electra said you needed my help!”

“How’d she get outside so fast?” I shook my head. “Nevermind, I—”

“Something about a new skill.” Rel looked me over, hands racing up and down my sides and leaving shivers in their wake.

I flinched when her hand landed on my hip, and she stopped.

“Lady Via?” Her brow wrinkled. “What’s wrong?”

I ran a hand through my hair. “Just…Help me get to bed, Rel.”

“Of course.”

I bit my cheek when she didn’t even hesitate. I’d been avoiding a confrontation with her for days.

Rel simply slipped my arm over her trim shoulders and ignored everything else. “Do you want to go out the back way?”

“Perhaps for the best.” Once we started to walk, I could work the soreness out of my leg. She helped me down the stairs without a word.

I was so used to fighting I didn’t know what to do when offered something different.

“We need to talk.”

I bit my lips after the words rushed out.

“Whenever you wish, My Lady.”

I opened my mouth, before biting back a retort. No. Rel was making things as easy for me as she possibly could.

“Tomorrow,” I said instead. “Let me sleep on it.”

She smiled, holding open the back door. “I’d like that.”

I looked away, even as she half carried me down one of the half-lit streets to our house. I’d moved to one closer to the Lightning Mill, so we managed to make it there without being seen. That was some small comfort to me.

Electra was right; Rel did enjoy helping me get ready to sleep. I hated it when the blonde knew what she was talking about.

“Relia.”

She paused at the door to the room. “Yes, Mistress?”

“Do you think I’m doing a good job?” I hated how my voice sounded, in the darkness of the room. Instinctively, my own skills clamped down on the phrase, ensuring no one else would hear my doubts.

Besides Relia.

She turned to me, backlit by the one light in the main room. “You told me once you’d show me the internet, Mistress,” she said. I remembered that promise, vaguely. “And since then, I’ve seen wonder after wonder, never knowing what could possibly come next.” I heard the smile in her voice. “You’ve done enough for a hundred lifetimes.”

“I haven’t done enough.”

She drifted back to the bed and took my hand. “It was always enough,” she said. “To me.”

How could I ever reply?

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