Disclaimer: I don't own Witch's House or any of the IPs from which my imported characters originate.
Why Cute Witches Should Deal With Outsiders (And Their Lairs)
Chapter 25: The Master Bedroom
Beta: AllForFire
Viola stepped through the door into Ellen's bedroom, briefly catching a glimpse of the familiar large but spartanly decorated studio apartment, before she was ambushed by a purple-haired blur that pulled her into a tight hug.
"Oh! Viola!" Ellen cried ecstatically as she held the blonde tight. "You're finally really here. Finally..."
Viola could understand the feeling. She had wanted to see Ellen in the flesh for years now. To finally have the chance… the mere idea brought tears to her eyes, and the reality of it happening caused those happy tears to spill from her eyes in twin waterfalls as she returned her friend's hug with all her strength.
All good things must end though. Eventually Ellen pulled back and looked at Viola with a brilliant smile. This allowed the newborn Outsider a chance to really see her friend for the first time in person, her breath hitching at the sight.
Ever since Viola had learnt to appreciate the human form, she'd always thought of Ellen as beautiful. She had the most unique and vibrant purple hair, the most perfect proportions and facial features. So much so that the younger woman had once compared her favorably to Venus herself. But tonight? Ellen completely left the goddess of beauty in the dust.
The fancy purple dress she wore not only made her look every bit the noblewoman and goddess that she was, with its elaborate accessories and train, but also hugged her perfect figure in all the right places. Just looking at Ellen dressed up like that made Viola's heart race, her palms sweaty... and her panties a little wet.
Especially because she knew that the other Outsider had dressed up so elaborately just for her.
Ellen blushed at the positive attention Viola was giving her even as a pleased smile grew on her own face. A smile that made Viola's already elevated lust jump up a whole notch.
"Like what you see, Viola?" Ellen asked in a slightly nervous tease.
Viola could only dumbly nod, earning herself a brighter blush on her friend's face.
Sashaying towards the blonde in a seductive manner, Ellen pressed herself into the younger woman's side sending waves of heated want burning through Viola at the contact.
"Well, if you say yes then you'll get to see more of what's underneath this dress too.~" Ellen breathed sultrily into Viola's ear.
A big part of Viola, the majority of it if she was being honest, wanted to say yes to Ellen's proposal right there and then.
Unfortunately, the last part of her mind that had managed to remain rational under Ellen's oh-so-effective seduction, and the lingering remnants of her human morals, decided to gang up and shout down the rest of her.
As such it was with a hesitant, stilted motion that she gently pushed Ellen away, though she couldn't fight the whimper she made at the loss of her friend's sensual touch against her own body.
"W-What?" Ellen asked in confusion.
"I'm sorry Ellen," Viola said honestly. She was sorry. Oh so sorry to not just get down to showing how much she wanted Ellen. Nevertheless, she had to have the conversation she had in mind now before they went any further. "But before I reply to your proposal, I have something to ask you."
Ellen frowned but nodded.
"Was it really necessary to go so far just to arrange for us to meet?" Viola asked nervously.
"You're throwing off the seduction I took months practicing for just to ask me that?" Ellen replied with a disappointed pout, her tone incredulous.
"Sorry."
"Ugh, wait! I can still salvage this." Ellen insisted. "Um, give me a moment…. Right! Do over!"
"Huh?" Viola said eloquently.
"Ask your question again!" Ellen repeated.
"Was it really necessary to go so far just to arrange for us to meet?" Viola asked by now more confused than anything else.
"It wasn't just a way to get us to meet up." Ellen replied with sensual lilt to her voice, that had Viola all worked up again.
Fighting the blush she could feel burning on her face, Viola shook her head.
"I'm not talking about that! We can, um, talk about that later." Viola said, deflecting her friend's attempt at changing the topic. "I'm asking about why you had to be so murderous about this whole thing?"
Ellen frowns for a moment before sighing and shrugging.
"I didn't do anything wrong," Ellen said without a hint of remorse for all the death she'd caused that night.
"You killed people, including my father!" Viola insisted.
"I don't see why killing your father is an issue. You never liked him."
"He was still my father and I loved him!" Viola shouted, getting angry at how nonchalant Ellen was being about all this.
Her anger spiked when the purple haired woman's response was a skeptical look.
Ignoring the look and the unease it stirred in Viola's stomach, she continued to press her case. "What about all the other people you've killed over the centuries? Were their deaths unimportant too?"
"I only ever killed in self-defense when intruders trespassed onto my property." Ellen countered defiantly, crossing her arms over her chest and doing wonderfully distracting things to her bosom.
With a great effort of will, Viola pulled her eyes away from the other Outsider's breasts and kept going. "Aren't I one of your trespassers this time? Are you going to kill me?"
"This time was different. You're different." Ellen said firmly.
"And the others?"
"They were still common trespassers and paid the price for being such."
"Ugh!" Viola cried out in absolute frustration while throwing her arms in the air.
"You won't convince Ellen to change her mind, young one. This line of thinking is part of her very nature. Either accept it and Ellen or reject it and her. Those are your only choices." A voice said from behind Viola. "Think on that for a moment. We'll get back to it."
The blonde spun around to see the black cat which killed her father padding its way casually towards her.
Viola tensed and primed her powers, wary of the strength that her new Outsider senses told her radiated off the feline. It was staggering, even for her new state of being.
Seeing the brewing fight, Ellen opened her mouth to say something but was stopped by the cat raising a paw.
"Stay out of this Ellen," the cat said. "I'll handle this."
The look that Ellen shot the cat at this was distinctly unhappy, but she nevertheless nodded at it before leaning over to whisper into Viola's ear. "Be careful."
Her warning delivered, the purple-haired woman walked a distance away and looked on disapprovingly as the cat stepped in front of Viola and glared at the newborn Outsider in challenge.
"Don't be too rough with her," Ellen warned the cat.
It merely nodded.
What's with this interaction? Isn't the cat one of the House's creatures, one of Ellen's minions? Why then is she talking to it like an equal or better?
"So you've had some time to think." The cat said, recapturing Viola's attention. "So have you decided? Will you accept and stay with Ellen, agree to be by her side forever?"
Despite everything, all the death she knows that Ellen has caused and knowing how that should make refusing her easy, Viola feels an unnatural urge to agree.
"Cat got your tongue?" The cat asked with an oddly human smirk at its own pun. "Maybe that's because you're still thinking mostly like a human, and that's conflicting with your nature as an Outsider. It's telling you that Ellen is your true mate, and that trumps something as petty as your human morality, but your mind still can't accept it thanks to the lingering vestiges of humanity."
"That's not all there is to it!" Viola insists.
I would be conflicted even if I wasn't an Outsider!
Viola was sure of that! She loved Ellen and would want to be with her, murderer and all, even if her new instincts weren't screaming at her that it was meant to be.
"Yes," the cat agreed with a nod. "Your love for Ellen plays a big part as well."
The blonde couldn't help the blush at having been so easily read, but had the good graces to nod.
Ellen squealed happily at this and moved to glomp Viola, but froze as the cat shot her a glare before sheepishly stepping back once more.
Okay, that seals it. Whoever this cat is, it's not a servant. It's not a guest like Midori or a tenant like Puppetmaster either, I would wager. Hmm…. I wonder.
There was a niggling suspicion growing in her mind, one that in a burst of uncharacteristic daring, she decided to test.
If this goes belly up I'm blaming my new Outsider recklessness!
"Why is a mere familiar like you so concerned about your mistress? All you need to do is obey, don't you?" Viola asked, fishing for a clue to confirm her hypothesis.
Ellen tries to say something but is again stopped by a single raised paw from the cat.
"I'll have you know, young one, that I am no familiar." The creature said with a light growl at what it must have seen as an insult.
"What are you then?"
"Why don't you answer my question first," the cat deflected. "Are you or are you not going to marry Ellen?"
"I think I'll decide that based on your answer." Viola shot back reflexively, before wincing. She didn't intend to make it seem like her feelings for Ellen and her decision about their relationship was in any way determined by external factors.
The cat didn't seem to have caught on to her lapse, instead it got frustrated at her dodging of the main question.
"You know what? Fine!" The cat said with an angry meow. "I'll answer your damned question, but I cannot give answers for free. So how about a deal? We fight and if you can beat me, I'll answer your question but if you lose then you'll have to marry Ellen no matter what you think. Deal?"
Neither of those outcomes are ones I'm opposed to. Viola noted with a smirk at having outmaneuvered the cat.
"Deal!" Viola replied eagerly, ignoring the exasperated disapproval Ellen shot both her and the cat.
The word had barely left the blonde's mouth when the cat leapt at Viola, shifting mid jump into a large black panther.
Haste. Viola cast on herself silently to enhance her already inhuman reflexes as she dodged the cat's lunge. Simultaneously she constructed a lance out of distorted space and stabbed.
Seconds before the lance would have torn through its flesh, the cat transformed into a streak of black lightning and evading her thrust, slammed into her like a cannonball. It reformed into a panther and raised its claws to rend her flesh, but Viola reacted quickly and teleported away.
Growling at being thwarted, the cat once more transformed into unnatural dark electricity and shot itself at her like a bullet out of a gun. The newborn Outsider responded by warping space and causing it to veer completely off course and slam into a wall. Amazingly, despite the power and speed behind the cat's attack, the wall held, even coming out the better in the collision as it remained unscathed while the cat reformed in front of it looking slightly dazed.
Viola took the opportunity for what it was and began transforming the battlefield to her advantage by warping the space more and more.
As the cat regained its bearings, it eyed the room that now looked like something out of a surrealist nightmare with annoyance. Seemingly deciding it didn't want to deal with it, it gathered together a immense amount of power that it unleashed in a powerful burst of its shadowy aura that proceeded to shatter all the warped space in a single stroke.
The blonde had expected something like this to happen however, and had taken the time her opponent had used to shatter her spatial warps to prepare a powerful spell.
As the cat's aura settled down and it looked to her challengingly, Viola unleashed her spell. Immediately, a black hole appeared directly above the cat and began pulling it in. It hissed in surprise and for a moment was forced to dig its claws into the room's floor to avoid getting sucked into the singularity. Fortunately for the creature however, it was quickly able to teleport away.
The moment it rematerialized the cat fired off a spell of its own.
"Giga Slave!" The cat incanted as it breathed out an immense sphere of raw destructive energy that began to sweep across the room.
"Spellbreaker!" Viola countered, negating the powerful spell whilst simultaneously launching a barrage of spatial lances at her opponent.
"Photon Lancer Genocide Shift!" The cat countered, firing out a barrage of bolts of electrical energy to intercept Viola's attack. "Triple Maximize! Sword of Damocles!"
Three massive energy swords shot towards Viola who countered by conjuring a black hole directly in front of her that sucked them into its event horizon.
Why are we even fighting? Viola mused as she sent her the singularity flying across the room at the cat. I wasn't that interested in the answer to my question. Yet I can't deny the thrill I'm getting out of this fight. I've never even dreamed of fighting on this level and yet here I am. Just that alone is exhilarating.
Unfazed by the incoming singularity, it merely flicked its tail at it and cast a simple Dispel that caused it to dissipate feet from its target. As it cleared, the cat launched another attack as with a roar of "Prismatic Spray!" it breathed out eight intertwined, multicolored beams of shimmering light at Viola.
"Reflect!" Viola incanted, conjuring a wall of glass shards in front of her that shot the breath attack back at the cat.
"Tsch! Spellbreaker!" The cat roared, countering the rebounded spell. It prepared to cast another spell, but Viola preempted it with an attack of her own.
"Slow!" She cast on her opponent even as she used her Outsider powers to cast a spatial cut directly on the cat's position. However, despite its reduced time perception caused by her spell it somehow still managed to teleport to safety in time.
"Triple Accel!" The cat cast as it rematerialized to negate the effect of Viola's slow, before immediately following up with an attack spell "Ultima!"
A bubble of magical destruction expanded out from the cat even as it transformed into lightning and slammed itself against Viola's still-present wall of Reflect shards. The destructive spell hit multiple shards at once and began bouncing off one to the other repeatedly, until with the sound of breaking glass, the whole collection of shards shattered leaving the cat standing where they had floated unscathed.
Damn it! I can't seem to hurt him at all. Viola cursed to herself. I guess it's time to change tactics.
With that in mind, she proceeded to shift into her Outsider form and lashed out at the enemy with a bunch of her strips with the aim to wrap them around the cat to choke it into submission.
The cat chuckled, demonstrating great agility by leaping in all directions to evade the strips.
"Getting serious now? Well, let me follow suit."
I was right after all. Viola thought to herself in vindication as the cat followed her example, transforming into a black hole with a brightly glowing golden eye at its center, from which a multitude of trailing limbs moved in erratic patterns.
Now that they had both assumed their true forms, their sets of tentacles proceeded to begin engaging in a strange tangled battle as Viola's paper thin tentacles clashed with the other Outsider's tendrils of dark energy.
At the same time, the dark hole-shaped Outsider shot a beam of dark energy out from its central eye at Viola, who simply shifted her mass so that the beam fired through a hole she'd created in her body. However, her opponent seemed to expect it after her first evasion, the next beam branching into a mass of thinner beams that arced back to hit her from the back. Viola however was prepared for this as well and had filled the space around her with small Reflect shards that proceeded to deflect the beams safely away from her.
"Oh good defense! But let's see how long it'll last?" The former cat said, as he began to sling a storm of beams and spells at Viola.
She tried to disentangle some of her tentacles to form a makeshift shell around herself, but her opponent was having none of it and used his own tendrils to keep her restrained. With that option out of play, she desperately began seeding more Reflect shards around herself while also warping the space around her body. To the outside observer, this had the combined effect of making her look like some kind of unsightly mess of shimmering twisted space.
Not that it did her any good as the barrage of powerful attacks slowly but surely began to chip away at her defenses.
Just as they were about to fail altogether, Ellen teleported in front of Viola and swept aside the incoming spells and beams with a wave of her arm, sending them slamming harmlessly into the still oddly pristine walls of her room.
"Mother, stop." Ellen demanded of the black hole-shaped Outsider.
Yup, I was totally right about who the cat was. Viola thought while giving herself a mental pat on the back.
"I won't have you cheapen Viola's decision by forcing it." Ellen declared firmly.
Ellen's apparent mother huffed in annoyance but compiled and released Viola's tentacles and returned to its favored form as a cat.
"Whatever you say Ellen." The cat said sulkily. "I guess it's a draw. Hmm…. I guess this also frees me and your lady love from our little pact from earlier."
Ellen nodded.
"You planned it?"
"Just thought it up. Considering how quickly things developed did you honestly think I had time for a plan?"
"I wouldn't put it past you," the cat said with a smirk. "Anyways, back to the point, I don't get where you're coming from. All that really matters is the girl accepts your hand right? Who cares what methods we use to get her to agree?"
"Mother! Stop looking at this from the perspective of an Outsider for a minute and you'll get it." Ellen chided. "Outsiders may only care about outcomes and pacts, but Viola was until only recently human. That means to her, freedom of choice still matters a great deal."
Viola barely paid the argument any mind, beyond having used the cue of being freed to transform back into her human form. Most of her attention was on what Ellen had said. She'd basically said that she would respect Viola's decision no matter what.
How romantic. The blonde gushed.
Or at least the lovestruck part of her did.
The majority of her mind was trying to make sense of what had happened to her since coming into the House. It had been no doubt what she wanted to do, but it was hard trying to justify it to herself.
Everything that's happened. All the fighting, all the death. All of it was pointless! Well, it's time I changed that and give it all meaning. And get my heart's deepest desire in the bargain as well.
"Yes!" Viola shouted over the still ongoing parent-child squabble.
The two other Outsiders both froze at that and turned to look at her in surprise. Ellen recovered first and in a hesitant-but-excited voice asked, "C-Could you repeat that?"
"Yes," Viola said with conviction. "I'd be glad to marry you Ellen."
Without warning Viola found himself with an armful of happy woman as Ellen teleported right up to her and grabbed hold of her face.
"There's no taking that back," Ellen told her, her golden eyes overflowing with love.
"Wouldn't think of it," Viola replied as she pulled Ellen in for a kiss.
There you have it folks, the last chapter of this fic. Just the epilogue left and we'll be all done.
AllForFire: Last stretch inbound!~^^
This chapter was fun to write. It allowed me to mix in fluff, something I'm still learning to write, and action, which I'm also working on, into what I hope is a passable finale. I liked it but I don't know if you'll agree. Well, let me know your opinion in a review.
Beyond that all I can say is till next time, peace out!