Revenant Day 2

Margarita woke groggily; she had been up later than she would have liked the previous night, making sure that everything went as expected and learning less than she would have hoped. A lack of sleep that would only get worse as the week went on, but it would all be worth it if she was able to get what she wanted out of the week. Or, as the saying went, she could sleep when she was dead.

So the biggest important item of the day was the arrival of Hiram and Opalneria in the evening. From what Margarita had learned about Amy, the key here was if she could prevent Ribbon from finding out they were there it would prevent a lot of the… issues that had plagued her attempts. It was also too early. But all of that meant actually interacting with Ribbon, much as it was distasteful. It was probably the best option. Besides, she could easily pretend to be exactly what she was: a former supporter of the Archmage. Just prevent him from finding out that she was the ultimate traitor to that cause, and she would be fine. Probably.

The new plan made this into one of the riskier days.

Since Pabst Ribbon was a night owl, she couldn't do anything about him until later, and the new arrivals wouldn't enter the town until the sun was already setting. That left Margarita with some time to spare until lunch. The best use of it was likely to be further making herself trustworthy to Sammy, Amy, or Astoria. She had already worked a little bit on Astoria, and the last time she dealt with Amy had gotten… frought. It was not a good idea to reveal herself this early to her. Once she had gardened with Sammy and Amy through most of the afternoon, and it had probably been part of the reason that she had been able to get them to leave the town. There were many problems with that plan through, including making the priest the target of Bonarda, and Amy and Sammy had returned to town at a fairly inopportune time, which was costly. So she needed to keep mixing it up at least a little bit. It couldn't hurt to have Astoria a little more at ease with her? She could probably buy something. What could she possibly buy that would make sense, though?

It didn't really matter in the end. If she needed to buy something small, she should be able to find something that she could at least look like she had a use for. Astoria probably needed at least a little more positive interaction.

Margarita arrived at the shop relatively early, but plenty late enough that the shop had been open for at least an hour when the tiny bell chimed to let Astoria know that she had opened the door. With a little bit of luck, all three of the Glamour ladies were present. Perfect. While she'd still focus on Astoria, it couldn't hurt to have a little positivity from and for all of them.

"Ah, Miss Silvaner back again," Astoria said as she came over to greet Margarita. "Since you were asking me about my apprentice, here she is." Astoria walked over to Amy and put her hand on her shoulder. "If you should happen to find Cavan again, just bring him to either of us and we can make sure that he is in good hands again."

Margarita smiled. "I would be happy to, though I think we would all be more pleased if it never needed to happen again."

Astoria smiled back. "Agreed. Anyway, did you have more questions for me?"

Margarita shook her head. "Not this time. I actually wanted to take a look at your wares."

"Oh?" Astoria's eyebrows rose. "Is there something in particular that you were looking for?"

"There were a couple things that I might be able to purchase today, but I wanted to see what you had; could I browse for a bit?"

"Sure, of course. Just let us know if you have any questions about it," Astoria said before saying something more quietly to Amy and Sammy. Margarita, however, stepped into the rows of plants that were closest to the front door of the shop. They were well-labeled, but only for those who had some sort of magical education. Thankfully, Margarita had quite the magical education. In the row that she examined, there were sleep aids, fertilizer, flowers that made fruit-bearing trees bear more fruit, flowers that made fruit-bearing trees bear less fruit…

But since Margarita was making sure that she was always paying attention to her surroundings, she noticed Amy and Sammy had come up to her. "Hello there," Margarita greeted as they got close. "Ms. Waldorf told me that she had an apprentice named Amy Foster last time we had spoken; may I presume you are the same?" Amy nodded. "Wonderful. And you are…?"

"Sammy Siliam," Sammy said.

"And I am Gertrude Silvaner; I'd say that I was a traveler just passing through, but this town has been so kind to me so far, I have apparently been taking this more as a 'vacation' than a 'trip' through the area."

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Silvaner. May I ask you a question?" Amy asked.

"Of course," Margarita replied. "I may not answer if it's too personal, though."

"Well, I hope you don't consider this personal; I wanted to ask you about how and why you found Cavan night before last."

"Oh! Well that's simple enough. I was taking an evening walk, which is a bit of a habit of mine, and I found him staring into space in the middle of a field in the southern part of town. I was thinking that it was a little… dangerous for a little boy to be out there on his own, so I brought him back to the main area of town. I was going to ask the innkeeper if he knew to whom the boy belonged, but Ms. Waldorf found me first."

"Did he say anything to you?" Amy asked.

"A couple things," Margarita replied. "Nothing really of note."

"…Are you sure? He has a habit of being a bit… abstract. I hope he didn't, uh…" Amy trailed off.

"Creep you out?" Sammy supplied.

Margarita laughed, preventing Amy from admonishing Sammy for her word choice. "Oh don't worry. I have a friend — well, I say friend but I haven't seen her in years — who can be the bluntest possible person. She refuses to lie for any reason whatsoever. Once I got used to that, I don't think anyone else has successfully caused me discomfort with just their words." She did miss Amoretta. Too bad she needed to stay as far away from the capital as possible.

Amy smiled, though it seemed that there was something other than relief in her expression. "That's good. Did he give any hints as to why he was out there, though?"

"Not that I know of," Margarita said. "And unfortunately, I can't remember the exact words he used. I just remember thinking that he was a bit confused."

"Alright. Well, enough of that. Please let me know if I can be of any help," Amy said, before she retreated.

Sammy did not retreat. "Where are you from?"

"I grew up a farmgirl on the other side of the country," Margarita replied, mentally enjoying the fact that while that was her standard answer to that question, she wasn't actually lying this time. "I have been traveling so long I'm not sure that it's really fair to say that's where I hail from, though."

"So you're something of a vagrant?" Sammy asked. Margarita was sure that Sammy was trying to lead her somewhere, but didn't know precisely what she was up to.

"I guess you could call me that."

"How would you have the money to stay at the inn and buy something here, which is likely not necessary for you?"

"I have a benefactor. Well, a few of them, I guess," Margarita replied. She wouldn't mention that her source of funds was lifting most of the cash on hand of the archmage supporters that she killed. It's not like they needed it where she sent them, and it helped her send them friends. "My life is… interesting. Maybe someday I'll tell you more about it."

"Not now? I have time."

Margarita laughed, never letting her smile dip. "No, we just met! I can't be telling you my darkest secrets already! That has to wait until we've known each other at least a week!" She then giggled, though she hadn't intended to, and then continued looking at the wares. She moved on to the next aisle to find some scents. Oh there we go. Margarita leaned into sniff the scents. No, no, close, no, yes. That was it. That was what she had smelled like. This could work out even better than she had expected.

"Found something you like?" Amy asked, having come over to give a look of censure to Sammy. Margarita pretended that she hadn't noticed and happily nodded.

"Yes! How much for a bit of this?"

"Oh, I think we can work that out for you."


With her purchase in tow, Margarita returned to the inn and set it up before heading back out her secret way and heading toward Ribbon's house. The real reason she did that though, is that she changed her face again.

The spell that she had changing her face was a tricky bit of Glamour, but despite the trouble in learning something that esoteric it had been vital to her successes in cleaning up the vestiges of the archmage's followers. That one theft of that grimoire had literally been the thing that had allowed her to do what she did so well. Having done it so much that she could make minor alterations in her sleep, she affected her face to look a little like Gertrude Silvaner — a young woman with as far away features from that dastardly Margarita Surprise as possible — but also a little like her first victim. She had been in charge of the group that had been her... benefactors... when she found them again after the events at the Silver Star Tower. With the same scent that she wore, and similar features… well, it wasn't going to be hard to be reminiscent of her.

This time she wouldn't bother staying out of the sightlines of the Golems. Let him see her coming. While Margarita had been spending most of her time sneaking around in Sallah… there was another side of her that she could let out at need. It had become easier and easier the more she used it, and it was something that she needed quite a few times. At this point she could shift into it at will. She didn't really want to know what that meant about her. It was best not to think about it too hard. Right?

The Golems didn't move as she approached the back door and rapped the back of her fist on it three times. She waited for a few seconds before growling, "I know you're in there." Shortly after her outburst, she heard the sounds of footsteps and then the door was wrenched open in front of her.

"What is— no, who are you?" Pabst Ribbon asked.

"Aren't you going to let me inside? I imagine you don't want a well-known fellow… magician… to be seen on your doorstep, hmm?"

The two of them stared at each other for a moment. Ribbon's eyes were clearly tired, but also wary. Margarita put all of her anger and frustration into her own look, and then hid it with haughtiness.

"Fine," Ribbon said finally, stepping aside. Margarita stepped in, allowing Ribbon to close the door behind her. He walked into the kitchen afterward. "So what the hell do you want from me? There's no organization anymore."

"Just because there is no central organization doesn't mean that we can't work together," Margarita replied. "We are servants—"

"And that's why there's nothing left to do together. It's just us now," Ribbon cut her off, and then sighed. "You're… her daughter, aren't you?"

Margarita folded her arms on her chest and raised an eyebrow. "What does that matter?"

Ribbon strided forward and got directly into Margarita's face. "If you think that it's a good idea for you to be anywhere near where there are rumors of the Remnant Revenant, you have a death wish, girlie. You do know who she was, right? The Surprise girl?"

"It's hardly a surprise to me."

"Ha, ha," Ribbon returned dryly. "You're probably near the top of the list of who she would like to kill and you probably lead her straight here."

"Psh, that girl can't keep track of me," Margarita replied. "And if it makes you feel any better, I'll be loooong gone by the time night falls tonight, so if she wants a piece of me, she can't stick around and poke at you."

Ribbon sighed, rubbing his face. "You've certainly got guts, I'll tell you that much. What's your name?"

"Hikari."

"Well, Hikari Moon, what could you want with me so badly that you're willing to come to this place to accost me like this?"

"I want to know if you're doing anything to help the rest of us, of course. Keeping the faith, as it were."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Do you not?" Margarita injected a little bit of a flirty tone to her dark one to produce something truly sinister and confusing. "Then why would you have taken an apprentice, then?"

Suddenly, Margarita found herself lifted by the collar and thrust against the inner wall between the kitchen and the living room of the tiny upper area of the house. "What do you know?" Ribbon demanded.

"What does it matter to you if I know anything about your little apprentice?" Margarita asked, keeping her tone perfectly level. "I'm just asking."

"Fine," Ribbon said, bringing his face closer to hers. "What are you trying to pull?"

Margarita smiled. "I want to know if you're worth having in an organization of us. If there are enough of us worthy to bring together."

"And that means that you are worthy? That you're going to be able to lead us?!" Ribbon hissed. "You know nothing. You can't understand anything hiding the skirts of that bitch."

Margarita narrowed her eyes. It's not like he was wrong about her ostensible mother, but she had a part to play here. "You're treading dangerous ground."

"I don't think you understand your position here, Hikari," Ribbon continued, more under control but no less furious. "My work is my own and you will not be taking any credit for what I have done."

"Ah, so you're useless," Margarita taunted, but Ribbon didn't rise to the bait.

He let go of Margarita, and she was able to get her footing by bracing against the wall before she crumpled to the floor. "You don't know anything. Get out of my house."

Margarita frowned. She was clearly not going to get anything more out of this, but couldn't just retreat immediately and remain in character. Maybe a parting shot? Yes, she at minimum should make sure to fire a parting shot. But perhaps… "Well, I'm sure that if you actually do anything useful to yourself at all, I will hear about it anyway," Margarita said, brushing herself off and straightening her dress. "So I don't really understand all this secrecy unless you're not even sure that you're going to succeed at… whatever it is you're trying to hide from me." She smiled at him, far from innocently.

He stared back, clearly still furious. "What part of 'get out of my house' did you not understand, girl?"

"The part where you get off giving me orders," Margarita replied. "But, I know when I'm not wanted." She walked over to the door and opened it, but at the last moment she looked over her shoulder at the vile man. "I would be careful though; the Remnant Revenant is hardly the most dangerous thing in this town." Then the door was shut behind her, and she was walking away from the house.

That… hadn't been as useful as she would have liked, but with a bit of luck, it would keep him paranoid enough to change his schedule so that he wouldn't spot Hiram. And with a little more… Well, paranoia begot bad decisions. A particular bad decision would be grand.


Returning to the inn to restore her Silvaner image, remove the additional scent and calm her frayed nerves took quite a bit of time, so there wasn't much time left in the afternoon once she emerged once again from her room (through the regular entrance this time).

Her luck was either terrible or fantastic, because she was met immediately by Bartido Ballentyne. "I hope you are more amenable to company this time, Miss Silvaner."

"…It's fine," Margarita said after a pause. It was probably a good opportunity, if she was honest with herself. Though it was always dangerous to interact with any of her fellow students from the Silver Star Tower and Margarita's time there, it was also necessary on every loop to deal with each of them at least once. Ideally precisely once she had thought, but the last time that she had gone through had made her less sure of that notion. One thing that she had not yet encountered Bartido during was dinner, oddly enough, but all of her interactions last time had been trying to warn him of the danger coming and him ignoring it completely. Perhaps a different tack was in order in the method as well as the message.

"Wonderful," Bartido said as they both sat down at a table for dinner. "I was hoping I would be able to catch you out."

"And why would that be, Mr. Ballentyne?"

"You intrigue me. You remind me of someone I knew a long time ago, and as she was a very interesting person, I am sort of banking on you being just as interesting."

"Hmm. Well I guess I hope that I meet your expectations, then, Mr. Ballentyne."

"Please, call me Bartido." He flashed her a winning smile. It actually didn't feel smarmy so much as it felt familiar. She wondered how it would feel if she really hadn't met the man before.

"We'll see. What brings you to Sallah, then?"

"I'm passing through, like most people," Bartido said, latching onto her question. "I pass through here every time I visit my family back home, so I know quite a few people in Sallah that I like to say hi to before I move on. It keeps me here a little longer than my body man would like, but I generally think that it's worth it."

Margarita wondered briefly how true that was; how much he was referencing his cousin Grot and his personal quest to get the man to leave versus people that he had truly met and bonded with just because he ended up there a few times a year. "I see," Margarita replied. "What is it you do, again?"

"I am an ambassador," Bartido said. "From Albion to the Queen herself. Her Highness has graciously given me leave again so I am returning to make sure that the messages passed back and forth remain cordial and free of malice."

"How magnanimous," Margarita said, though she was buttering him up a bit with that response. It was only his job, and he was lucky to have it since his role at the Silver Star Tower was just about as politically fraught as her own.

"What is it that brings you here, Miss Silvaner?"

"Oh, I like to travel," Margarita said. "I had passed through here a couple times, but this time I decided to actually use it as a destination," since she had heard about Pabst Blue Ribbon actually setting down roots here. And he was famous enough for her to care. "I just got caught up in the picturesque nature of the town, so I decided to actually stick around for a week."

"Is that so?" Bartido said, chuckling. "Well, that just makes me curious as to what you do that allows you the free time to travel about."

"It's really nothing fancy," Margarita said. "Or at least, all that complicated. I'm able to do it because of benefactors." Dead ones. That she'd killed.

"I see. So you just travel with your freedom, then?" Bartido asked.

"Something like that," Margarita replied.

There was a brief silence as Bartido apparently expected her to elaborate on her response, but Margarita took a bite of her dinner and didn't have any intention of going any further into an elaborate lie.

Bartido figured out what she was up to pretty quickly, but he seemed not to mind too much, pivoting to a separate subject. "So in being 'caught up' in the town, is there anyone I should make sure I meet here?"

"Oh it's all about the people," Margarita said. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not sure I would have stopped here without the people, even with the wonderful little cozy atomsphere that I love here. Have you been to Ms. Waldorf's Glamour shop?"

"I have seen it, but I haven't gone in."

"One of the best in the country, it turns out. I was surprised that such a well-stocked magical shop this far away from a major city."

"Glamour is a good pick for a shop away from civilization — not that this town really qualifies for that per se — but since Glamour is all about being one with nature, it makes sense to be able to find that away from large gatherings of humanity."

"Sure, but usually the tiny shops of Glamour you can find in villages — or you're right, usually outside of the smaller villages — are extremely specialized and regional in their selection and what they can do. Ms. Waldorf's shop is one of the most complete I've ever seen."

"I see. I guess I'll have to give the shop a visit at some point."

Margarita smiled. "What about you? Have you met anyone in particular that is worth knowing here?"

Bartido shrugged. "I know most of the movers and shakers here. The Magistrate, the innkeeper, a few members of the town council. But it would probably be more accurate to refer to them as people that are useful to know. I don't think there's a particular person that I would have to call 'worth knowing'."

"I understand," Margarita said. Quite the lie by omission regarding his cousin, but the wording probably revealed his hand there. He may not be too fond of his cousin and was only trying to get him to leave due to a bout of family loyalty. Or maybe country loyalty? Or even politics. For all Margarita knew, it would be a big deal if Grot were caught and Bartido was thinking more about the repercussions to his own job. It would be a little surprising to find him being quite so professional, but all of the former students at the Silver Star Tower had their own journeys afterward. Was it really all tht far-fetched to think that Bartido could have gotten more mature too?

"Other than you, there doesn't really seem to be any young women of note here." There was the Bartido she knew. This lie she was going to call out.

"Liar," Margarita said. "You're not paying attention if you think that I'm the only — shall we say — eligible bachelorette."

Bartido shrugged. "That's probably true, but you're the only one that intrigues me quite this much."

Margarita gave him her best unimpressed look; something that he had probably seen about a million times on another face some years ago. How long had it been since they had both been in the Silver Star Tower? Margarita had honestly lost track. "Uh-huh."

Bartido's smile didn't really fade as he watched her. "I told you. You remind me of someone that I find very interesting, much as I think that I may never have the opportunity to see her again."

"That's a shame," Margarita said. There was a good chance that he was referring to her, right? That was actually some good spotting. She wondered for a moment if he actually suspected that Gertrude and Margarita were one and the same, but dismissed it just as quickly. Even if he guessed, it wouldn't much matter shortly. At least not if things went to plan. And if it didn't go to plan, it would matter even less. "Why wouldn't you ever see her again, then?"

"My duties and what she is apparently up to are fundamentally incompatible. While I guess it would be possible for our paths to cross, I kind of hope they don't, since that would probably mean bad things were coming to at least one of us, if not both."

That was actually a sweet thing of him to say. And confirmed that he knew who the Remnant Revenant was, which was a little disturbing. Only a little, but it was there. There were things that it was… important for her to keep close to her chest if she was going to continue to do her work… much as it was probably not the smartest to think of while she was still trying just to get out of her trap of looped time.

The moment she was waiting for that evening, though, came soon after that. While waiting for it, she and Bartido went into small talk about the weather and how there was a significant possibility of rain coming in overnight. Margarita, of course, knew that it was going to rain all day, but the signs of the clouds coming in were becoming obvious as of the late afternoon. While Margarita hadn't seen it that particular time through, the weather was certainly one thing that she couldn't change.

Bartido had just started to go into a story about a rainstorm that had actually stopped his carriage during a trip to his home in Albion from the capital when the two that Margarita had been waiting for came in the inn. Arguing amiably about what they were going to do with the stuff that they had found, and immediately met by the innkeeper's wife and some of the other staff came at the innkeeper's instruction to meet them. All Margarita had to do was look at the rather large commotion that was being made about it, and Bartido immediately noticed that her attention had wavered, and looked over his shoulder to see precisely what Margarita wanted him to see. "Well would you look at that," Bartido breathed, just loud enough for Margarita to catch.

"Do you know them?" Margarita asked, despite knowing the answer quite well.

"I believe I do," Bartido said, turning back to her with an apologetic look. "If you would be so kind as to excuse me."

"Of course; I could hardly keep you from a friend of yours," Margarita said. She wasn't able to keep all of the wistfulness out of her voice, but that might have sold it a little better.

Bartido gave her one of his best and most genuine smiles before he rose in a smooth motion to go greet Prince Hiram Couvousier and Professor Opalneria Rain of the Silver Star Tower. Margarita watched them meet each other for a moment before she quietly excused herself from the table. No one noticed her as she retreated to her room quietly, leaving the friends to their moment. A moment that, she hoped, would end up helping both of them in the coming days.

The next thing she had to do, though, was go save a life.

One of the previous times through, Margarita had figured out when Sammy was going to die, and tried to save her. That had resulted in the first time that she had met the Beast. It did not go well; Margarita had barely gotten away with her life, while she had still failed to save Sammy, though the girl had endeared herself to Margarita with how useful she had been despite her lack of training in battle. Unfortunately that was cold comfort. Ever since then, Margarita had saved Sammy's life through a combination of planning and perfect timing.

This was something that Margarita had already pulled off twice, but it was certainly useful enough for her to continue to do so. It was with nearly muscle memory that she left the inn via her secret way and went around the back of the buildings along the main road until she reached a particular point where she knew that no one would find her for the hour that she needed it. A little alcove tucked between two abandoned buildings and a storage shed for one of the supplies shops that catered mostly to travelers. The shop, for whatever reason, was closed that night, and Margarita was ready to take advantage.

She drew Hell Gate followed immediately by Chaos Nest, pressing the Imps into service immediately to collect the mana that she was spending on this. She summoned two Grimalkins, mostly for safety, if she were honest with herself, and then started to summon Demons. It got a little cramped in the space that she chose for this, but the mana concentration and lack of sightlines was perfect for Margarita's cause, so she dealt with it, and as familiars do, they dealt with whatever the Mistress asked them to deal with. While she was still preparing the familiars that she would need, she sent one of the Grimalkins out to peek into the street. The weird vision that she got form her familiars told her that the street was just as abandoned as it had been the last couple times she had tried to pull this little stunt.

Unfortunately, she didn't want to actually save all of the people who were likely to die from the Beast tonight. It only made the following night much worse and caused further problems for her long-term goals later. It hurt a bit to have to do that — if Margarita had her way, there would be precisely two deaths in Sallah over the week that she was there, and neither of them were in any particular danger, just some innocent bystanders. None more innocent than the one that Margarita was trying to save and — to add to Margarita's guilt — that had nothing to do with why she was so important to save that night.

While it was probably best to not think about it, that was not a luxury that Margarita had successfully managed.

She completed her preparations and sent out the three Demons in the front with the two Grimalkins trailing behind, with commands to engage but to focus on containment rather than killing their target, but gave them a location to protect rather than a target. Their target, incidentally, would meet them there.

The familiar visage of the Beast entered her awareness from the vision of the Demons first, and Margarita let their initial reaction to charge the Beast happen while she reiterated her instructions. Containment was their goal. She had one of the Grimalkins attempt to put the Beast to sleep, but it only slowed it down a bit. The Demons took huge strikes, making sure that the Beast moved no further and making the Beast pay for every inch that it tried to take from them. While she knew from previous experience that she did not need any Elves for healing of the Demons in order to manage her goal, she felt that same worry build in her chest as the first of the Demons went down from a concerted attack from the Beast that just completely overpowered the Demon's defenses. Even with all of the boosts to the Demon's effectiveness that she had done through the Hell Gate rune (the whole reason she actually needed to use Imps to recover her mana efficiently), the Beast still could really cause problems for the Demons.

But Sammy had noticed the Beast right at the beginning and as the second Demon fell, Sammy's flight took her out of the range of the remaining Demon's senses. As soon as Sammy was gone, Margarita gave the kill order to the last Demon, knowing that all it would do would be to allow the Demon to survive about three seconds longer. The instant the last Demon fell, Margarita dismissed the Grimalkin that she had escorting the Demons, limiting her senses back to her little alcove. She made sure that the remaining Grimalkin stood at the entrance to the alley to make sure that the Beast didn't come her way while she cleaned up and returned to the inn. As the last two times, it turned out not to be necessary and she ended up dismissing the Grimalkin while it still had all of its own mana still ready to spend.

The one thing that bothered her about the night — though it was no different than any other time she had done this — is why was the inn ignored entirely by the Beast?