ACVR

Chapter Twenty-Seven

MS. VILLA

Eva had never been one to compare her workload against another' – at least not out loud – she really couldn't with her strange and unique line of work. Everyone's task was important and had their own difficulties, however, after working nearly two weeks in Mr. V's shoes, she would never again complain about the difficulties of creating the villainous merchandise after working with the Villains themselves. Eva had, of course, had small consultation meetings with each of the Villains, but that was about promoting them, getting insight on their fashions and how to enhance them, they had only ever been good meetings with the Villains because they were talking about themselves.

Mr. V allegedly had a handle on things before he left, not as strong as Ashe always handled things though, and thanks to Ischer things were at least manageable, however they were far from tolerable. Eva had never been able to understand why Mr. V was so ridiculously firm with the Villains until this week. She would much rather lock herself away in her project room swathed in her fabrics and papers when she had an artist's block than ever face another impatient, demanding and complaining Villain ever again. She was aware that time passed differently in each Realm, some faster, others slower than here in the Anti-Realm, but she desperately wished that Mr. V would hasten his return to this Realm, with or without Ashe.

It was almost as if the entire Anti – Realm knew that Mr. V had left and all the Villains came hounding at the door, pounding and demanding entry and to see the ruler of the Realm. Both she and Eito had done their best to ease their demands by agreeing to make appointments with them in the weeks to follow, however, it ultimately came down to Ischer and his strange magic to ward off the Villains and erected a pointed cast iron gate around the entire circumference of the castle. It added a nice touch and remained strong enough to keep most of the Villains out, however they had other sources to make sure their demands breached the castle doors.

Letters, familiars, enchantments, anything they could squeeze into a letter or a box to make sure their demands were heard if not answered. Everything from threats, pleads, and bribes were what squeezed into the mailbox and dared to enter the castle gates. Thankfully, Ischer handled most of these packages and letters, unless one was formally or personally addressed to Eva and Eito, took the time to read each one and decide its fate by being burned in the fireplace or to go into a basket on Mr. V's desk. The fires burned a hint of green each time something was thrown in and from the last she saw, the paper tray on Mr. V's desk contained a single sheet of paper.

Ischer had refused to allow either she or Eito to see what matters of demands and requests were flung at Mr. V, and after everything else they had to do, neither of them questioned it. The month of October was far too close, and Eva was far too away from her deadline with projects. Eito had agreed that the best plan of action was for him to bounce between the Realms searching for the Recruits, just to make sure they were all right and not in any sort of peril, however even that had proved difficult as their doors to the other Realms were locked tight. Miss Ember Hades was all that remained of the Recruits and she was the least cooperative in sharing any information of what was going on in her life. As much as Eva wanted to be a tender mother sort of Host to the girl, she did not have the time nor the patience to do so and Ember seemed to want to have less to do with them. The only solace of peace the girl offered was her special blends of tea to soothe the stresses the Hosts shared.

Slapping her right hand on a drifting piece of pattern paper on her work table, Eva rubbed her eyes beneath her glasses and squeezed her eyes shut tight to relax the strained focus they'd had on her most recently finished projects. Wallets and handbags.

Oh, how she loathed and prized creating handbags, the intricate designs, the leathers, the pockets, the sizes, anything and everything could be done to a purse, but they did get tedious and they especially became an aggravation whenever it came to the corners. She would much rather create shoes and those were much more difficult to craft. Both her mind and her body ached with soreness as she worked without rest for nearly twenty hours. Regret flashed in her mind for starting with the most difficult of tasks, but she had to. The handbags were the most intricately designed and patterned after the Villains of the Recruiter program with matching minimalist wallets of their Recruiter minions, and just like their Villains, they took up the most material, time and work. Eva would have procrastinated with everything else had she not started with them, and dresses and shoes were far easier to maneuver on a machine.

Groaning with exhaustion deep in her bones, Eva set her glasses straight on her nose again and took the moment to look over her work. A small smirk dared to surface as she looked over the handbags, as the vast array of villainous merchandise glistened her workshop. She was proud of what she made, why shouldn't she be? She could hardly stop now though, she barely had days to make ten pairs of shoes, ten dresses, ten suits, ten hats, ten sets of gloves, ties, and ten of everything in nearly every article of clothing that one could wear from undergarments to outer garments to even more accessories. She had to squeeze her eyes shut again to avoid thinking of the mountains of work she had let pile up and discard. How had she allowed herself to get so behind?

Oh, what she wouldn't do for Jamilia or Dalmatia's help right about now. Even if they hadn't exactly gotten along, Dante was always good with a needle and thread and Jamilia just knew what furs paired best with which pieces and patterns; but neither were here within the castle. Both were off in their own Realms seeking out their own dreams, their own fates, and hopefully their own lives if they had any luck. Eva had pitied Jamilia with her unrequited love for Dante. No matter how much Jamilia pined after Dante, and how much he had kindly and even patiently tried to let her down, it was evident to all three of them that nothing more could be between them as partners at work and friends as much as oil and water could be. Still, there was the faintest glimmers of hope whenever Dante would drape a blanket or a coat over Jamilia while she slept on her breaks, a tiny hint of kindness, the slight possibility for something between them to be more, however, it was nothing more than a friendship that was a strong as a sister to Dante; Eva couldn't fault him for that.

No matter how much she wished her two little helpers were here, they were not, and there was still plenty of work to be done. Her clock chirped the late hour of three in the morning and she rolled her eyes with a groan. Twenty hours had very quickly turned into twenty-four hours and she suddenly wished she had the ability to manipulate time just enough so she could have squeezed in an hour of sleep in between that time somewhere. A yawn came next and though she knew she had plenty of work to do, there was no use starting anything with such tired eyes. Tired eyes meant blurry vision when she attempted to sew, and blurry sight rarely made the pretty things. As much as Eva was loath to admit it, she had to stop for the moment and at least sleep some before daring to continue.

Stabbing the pattern piece with her leather knife she sighed and pushed herself away from her worktable. She didn't dare look at what she had created, else she would be there all-night tweaking things to perfection, and walked out of her work room. Clicking off the lights and locking the door tightly behind her, she felt the threads of her burdens growing thinner and thinner as she left her office. Eito had promised he would come by and help her in getting things finished up in the morning and she would rely on that alone as a boost in work labor. She could only hope that he was more successful in his endeavors than she was and hoped he had more to talk about by the time she picked him up from the Wardrobe Room.

The farther she got from her office the lighter she felt and the heavier her eyes became. Too many worries, too many problems, too many responsibilities, and not enough time to get anything done. Any and all things she could not finish tonight would inevitably have to wait until tomorrow, and though it prickled in the back of her mind like a screaming banshee, there was nothing she could or would do about it until morning. She only hoped her hyper fixated mind wouldn't fixate on all the things she needed to get done in order to sleep.

A yawn escaped her as she walked down the quiet halls of the second floor, her heels clacking against the stone floors as she made her way to the Wardrobe room. The castle was ridiculously empty now that all the Recruits were practically gone, not even the ghosts or the other staff members seemed to want to stick around. This place had never been particularly cheerful to begin with, but now that everyone was practically gone, well, it felt rather dismal and cold. It would be a small relief to finally get away from here when she and Eito went off to the show on the surface. The heavens above knew they needed a break, yet part of her knew that she would miss this place.

She winced at the pinching her heels did to her Achilles tendon and chose to slide her heels off her feet and make the rest of the way barefoot. The stone floors were cool and soothing against her nylon covered feet and made the rest of her walk a little more enjoyable. As she turned the corner to enter the Wardrobe Room, she heard the large doors creak open and watched Eito stumble out of the doors. His hair was mussed up, his glasses hung on the tip of his nose, his suit coat draped over her shoulder and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. When the door closed behind him, he propped his back up against it and let out a sigh of exhaustion. His head lazily rolled to the side to look at Eva, and she didn't even have to ask. He hadn't had any luck in his findings today either. Wordlessly Eva crossed the room and carefully removed his glasses before she slid her arms around him, engulfing him in a hug. His own arms slowly draped around her, pulling her close and tight as he buried his face in the curve of her neck.

Whenever they stood like this, it was evident that Eito was too tall for her and Eva was too short for him, yet it did not matter to either of them at that moment. It had been a long day, neither had truly succeeded in what they had set out to accomplish today and in their lowest moment of failure, they just needed one another. No words needed to be shared, all they needed was the silent reassurance that the other one was there for the other. After a day of many complications, they both simply needed a hug. Time didn't matter in this moment, and though she was certain that the hug lasted longer than it should have, she did not want it to end. With reluctance, Eito was the first to pull away. A tired smile on his face that didn't quite meet his drooping baggy eyes as he carefully slipped his glasses from Eva's hands. His voice was thick and scratchy as he placed his glasses on his face. "I told you not to wait up for me."

"I wasn't," she snorted and ran a hand through her hair. It clung to her fingers and her nose wrinkled at the greasy feeling that remained on her hands. "I was working."

"That's worse." He laughed drily as he cupped her cheek, his thumb gently brushing under her eyes. "You know better than to work this late. You've already got bags under your eyes."

"You're one to talk," she cocked a brow at him and touched her fingers to his cheek. "Your cheeks are hollow like you haven't eaten, and I know you've gotten less sleep than I have."

"I ate this morning with you." He yawned and rubbed his eye. "Besides, time moves so differently in all the Realms, it affects me differently."

"Well, regardless," she sighed and grabbed his hand, careful to lock their fingers into place. "I'm glad you're back."

He hummed in response as he allowed her to pull him along. "Did Ischer make anything for dinner?"

"I believe so." She paused and chewed her lip at the thought. She vaguely remembered his knocking at her door to call her down for dinner, but she had been so engrossed in her work that he couldn't pull her away from it. "There should be something in the kitchen."

"There better be." He grunted as they reached the door. "I'm starving –"

A rattling sound came from behind them. They both stopped in their tracks, wide-eyed as they glanced at one another before turning to watch the Wardrobe's doors fling wide open. In a flurry if black fur, a giant hellcat fell out of the Wardrobe with two small humans spilling away from its hold. A purple velvet top hat fluttering to the ground while his cane and a pair of red glasses clattered against the stone floor.

"Ya couldn't have had a more graceful landin'?" Mr. V grunted as he sat up and rubbed the back of his head. "Ya really think we haven't been through enough while in Fantasia?"

Neither Eva nor Eito spoke a word, both blinking in shock and waiting for this to be some sort of elaborate prank from Ischer. The hellcat scoffed as it rolled to its feet and shrunk back down to the size of a normal house cat.

"'We'? The only ones who did anything in Fantasia were Ashe and I!"

Eva's hands flew to her mouth to keep from sobbing at the sight of them as the realization that this was not a dream hit her like a ton of bricks. Mr. V had done it. He had succeeded in bringing Ashe home!

"Boys, this really isn't the time." Ashe huffed as she blindly reached for her glasses. Mr. V sighed and snatched up his top hat and placed her glasses in her palm. "It's the middle of the night and I'm sure everyone is –"

Before Ashe could properly place her glasses on her face, Eva had already tackled her in a hug with tears pouring from her eyes. She gasped in surprise as she struggled to hug her back, "E-Eva?"

"I was so worried!" Eva's voice choked as she held Ashe tighter in her arms, just to make sure she was real. "I thought you'd never come back!"

Ashe struggled to return the hug, only her hands were free to provide pitiful little pats against Eva's back, but Eva refused to release her. Some part of her knew that if she let her go now, she'd somehow never see her again.

"I missed you too, Eva." Ashe laughed lightly as she tried to pull back. Eva reluctantly allowed her to pull back just enough so she could get a good look at her and gasped at the sight.

"Ashe!" her hands went to Ashe's choppy black locks. "Oh my god, what happened to your hair?"

"It's a long story," she laughed shyly and blushed. "Though I will admit, I do feel lighter. Do you like it?"

"It needs a little fixing," Eva hiccupped with a giggle and wiped at her eyes, "but it suits you."

The ladies shared a smile before they shared a hug again, giving the tightest squeeze at their reunion.

"What, no one missed me?" Mr. V joked with a groan as he pushed himself to his feet.

"I know I didn't." Varuo grunted as he padded over to Ashe, rubbing his little black head into her back.

Ashe chuckled and scooped him up in her arms as she stood. "Varuo, be nice!"

"Trust me, sir," Eito spoke up as he came up behind the ladies and gently placed a hand on Eva's back. "You have been missed plenty, for I have not enjoyed having to pick up your duties."

"That's so shallow." Mr. V tutted with a smile. "I expected more from you, Mr. Po."

"Had a handle on things my ass." Eito scoffed as he managed to help pull Eva to her feet. "You just left us with all the work to do while you made the daring rescue!"

"Hey, what can I say?" He chuckled and dusted off his lapels. "It takes many hands to do the work I do."

"That's an understatement." Eva scoffed and rolled her eyes. "After all this, I don't think I want to have a hand in any of your work again."

Mr. V waggled his eyebrows and leaned against his cane. "Now you know why Scatter here gives me meetings as a punishment."

"If you think he's got work to do, you obviously haven't touched anything I do." Ashe teased and tucked a choppy strand of hair behind her ear. More laughter echoed in the room and Eva's chest felt so full of warmth again. "I can only imagine what sort of work I'll have to do with the Recruits since I've been gone. . ."

Both Eito and Eva's lips zipped at her words and winced at the realization that there would be many things to have to explain. The laughter quickly died away as both Mr. V and Ashe noticed their winces and the warmth that had filled Eva's chest now chilled as it became somber.

Mr. V, though he appeared calm and had a frantic worry in his eyes, was the first to ask. "Has there been trouble?"

"Trouble is an understatement." Eito grimaced and rested on his back leg.

"What do you mean?" Worry coated Ashe's voice as she immediately looked to Eva. "Don't tell me the Recruits are in trouble."

"Not exactly. . ." Eva twisted her fingers in such a way that she was able to free her hands from the gloves and twist the fabric.

"They're gone." Eito spoke in finality and the air became chillingly cold again.

"What?" Mr. V nearly leaned too far forward on his cane.

"All of them?" Ashe asked in disbelief with a slight shake of her head.

"Well, Ember is still popping in here, but I'm pretty sure she'll be gone tomorrow." Eito ran a hand through his hair. "But I haven't heard from any of them in over a month now."

"No." Mr. V shook his head and tugged on his chin. "No, no, no, that can't be right."

"I'm serious, Mr. V." Eito snapped a little more harshly due to his exhaustion as he restated the facts. "They're all gone. All of them. I can't get through their doors."

EITO

The warm water from the shower felt amazing against Eito's skin, his muscles relaxing at the sensations as he scrubbed the dirt and grime of the day away. Thankfully Mr. V had decided that all forms of serious conversation were to be saved for the morning to allow Eito and Eva a night's rest, and Ashe too. Though it was a relief to have them back, a whole new form of stress was sure to arise come morning when they had to explain things to them. Though it hurt his pride when Mr. V said he needed to see Ischer about all this, Eito was glad that the Magic Mirror would finally answer to someone. Though the guy was a royal pain in his back and took too much joy in commanding Eito around, Ischer did have a proper handle on things here in the castle to give Eva and himself a chance to tackle their more difficult tasks. Still, it bothered Eito immensely that Ischer acted like he was the one running the show here.

There was a knock on the bathroom door and Eva's voice called right behind it. "Eito, you okay?"

"Yeah." He grunted and finished rinsing the suds from his body. She turned the knob and entered the bathroom and squinted through the steam looking directly at him through the glass door.

"You sure?" Her facemask was no longer a vibrant green but a mucky brown and was a complete contrast to her black negligee and purple robe. "You've been in here long enough for my face mask to set and dry and need to be washed off."

"Yeah, I'm fine." He sighed as he turned the water off. The handle squeaked as he turned it to the left and the water dripped from the spout and down his body. "Just thinking."

"This late?" Eva called as she turned on the sink faucet and began to splash her face with water. "The day is over, Mr. V and Ashe are back, what more is there to think about?"

"There's plenty to think about, Eva." He huffed as he grabbed his towel and began to dry off. "Their return only lessens some of the burdens we have."

"Eito." She shook her head as her hands rubbed furiously at the brown mucky face mask on her skin. "We can't do anything else today, we've got to go to sleep."

"That's rich coming from you." He scoffed and rolled his eyes as he wrapped the towel around his waist. "Since when does the workaholic Eva tell me to relax?"

"Since she's exhausted and pin pricked to the point she has no feelings in her fingers." She slipped as she dipped her head to remove the remaining gunk from her face. "You'd do better not to take your tired anger out on me when I've done nothing against you."

He winced a little at her harshness, though it was just deserved. Eva was irritable when she hadn't eaten, Eito was especially irritable when he hadn't slept. With him constantly Realm jumping the way he had, he hadn't gotten a proper night's sleep because his whole body clock was thrown off kilter. With a sigh he walked over towards her and hugged her by her shoulders as she came to stand up again. He pressed a quick kiss to her ear before releasing her and returning to their bedroom. "I'm sorry."

A quick smile came to her face, but he could see that she was only slightly pleased by this reaction. "I'm not mad at you."

"I know." He huffed as he went over to his dresser to pull out a pair of boxers. She hummed happily in response and continued to wash her face while he proceeded to slip into his boxers and throw on a pair of night shorts before climbing into bed. His whole body squeezed tightly before all of his muscles went limp and he flopped on his back and loudly groaned. Eva chuckled in the bathroom before finally turning off the tap and stood in the doorway toweling down her face.

"I know you've been stressed." She spoke softly and he rolled his head in her direction, so she knew he was listening. "Things have been stressful, and we've only got a little while longer before we go to the surface. We'll get through this."

"I know." He sighed as he rolled stomach and propped himself up on his elbows. "It's just. . . it's just been a lot and we really need to take a vacation after this."

"Hmm, I conquer." She smiled at the thought before disappearing into the bathroom again to deposit the towel and turn off the bathroom light. "However, we have to work to earn that vacation."

"We've more than earned it." He frowned as she slipped her robe off and hung it on its hook.

"And you think Mr. V and Ashe haven't?" She slapped her hands to her hips and raised a magenta brow at him. She was trying to scold him with her sass, but it was just too cute for him to truly take her seriously. "They work just as hard as we do. We only got to experience it for a week compared to what they've done for years."

His nose wrinkled, knowing she was right, and he turned his face away as he grimaced. She softened a little as she sat on her side of the bed and looked at him. "We're almost done, love."

"Not soon enough." He grunted as he rolled his head over to look at the beautiful woman beside him. When she wasn't wearing her makeup and those green glasses, he could see her true shy beauty and he loved it. He loved knowing that he was the only man she'd ever allow to see her without makeup.

"Soon." She smiled and pressed a kiss to his forehead before turning the bed lamp off and climbing into bed with him. His eyes relaxed almost instantly as the darkness blanketed them and if it weren't for her shifting closer and getting comfortable, he would have fallen asleep almost instantly. He was waiting for her to hold his hand like she did every night. For as long as he'd known her, she not only hated sleeping alone, but she hated the dark. The combination of the two was a double-edged sword that often led to her insomnia and late-night workaholic tendencies. Eva had never been one to snuggle in bed when it was time to sleep, something about it being too constraining, but she needed the contact of knowing that the other person was there with her. They'd been doing this for so long that he couldn't go to sleep unless Eva was holding his hand. Even when she was mad at him and tried to keep her back to him, her hand would seek him out for the comfort of knowing he was there.

His right hand was open, palm up, waiting for her to slip her smaller hand into his own. Her left hand skittered across the sheets, her fingers laced with his, the cool of the metal band of the ring he'd given her when he'd proposed to her still on her fourth finger. She sighed contently and mumbled a goodnight as she drifted off to sleep while Eito's eyes lingered on the ring on her finger. He'd proposed to her the last time they were in their Realm. Edna had been pushing it, had even managed to get their mother's ring for him to propose, and she'd accepted him. Ironically enough the wedding was going to be small, for though Eva loved to be the center of attention in her fashion, she didn't want her wedding to be known by the whole world and had planned to keep it small. Eva had everything planned out, dress, venue, date and everything.

Then the supers, heroes and villains alike, were all forced into hiding, Edna almost lost everything, and then Eva lost everything except for Eito. Things had been going so well until Eva's plans backfired and Galbaki had been the root of all the problems. Eito and Eva both lost their jobs in the fashion industry, lost their positions in society, lost their kinship with Edna, and no longer felt welcome in their own Realm. They left their Realm and never looked back. They never got married either, though they lived as though they'd been married their whole lives. Neither of them brought it up either. They'd just left one life and jumped into a completely different one here in the Anti-Realm and rolled with it.

Working was what Eva did whenever she was avoiding things, problems, people, anything really, and ever since they'd arrived in the Anti-Realm, she hadn't stopped working. Eito still hadn't figured out what sort of relationship Eva had managed to form with Ashe, but he did his best not to question it. Female relationships and companionships were most peculiar and better left to their own than to be pried apart by a man who didn't understand their intricacies. Whatever friendship Eva had managed to forge though, she had clung to it like a lifeline, and though Ashe was great and a genuine person, she'd never be able to replace Edna. He knew that Eva knew that, but it still made him worry about what was going through her mind whenever he watched her worry and fret over the loss of a friendship she'd barely had.

Looking at the white gold band on her pin pricked little fingers, his heart swelled with more emotions than he knew what to do with and he gently brought her hand to his lips and brushed the lightest of kisses to her fourth knuckle. Her breathing was steady, her lips slightly parted as she slumbered and brought a smile to his face.

"I'll try to get us that vacation." He promised in a whisper. "This time, let's try to get married."

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you're enjoying the story so far!

I am so sorry it has taken me so long to get this posted. I'm juggling a lot of things right now, but I do promise that I am working on the stories as much as I can. Please make sure to leave a comment and tell me what you think, if you like this story enough, please share it!

Thanks so much for reading, and stay tuned!

Ko-fi/SarahtheWriter