Author note - Welcome back to another chapter my lovely readers! I wanted to thank my 26-31 followers and favorites once again, plus everyone who silently has been keeping up with the adventure. Now to name the wonderful people who have given this story a thumbs up in no particular order: victoriashivers724, rejajali272, pilitaangomas, grapejuice101, falloutaki, diasturganbekov54, bryne40k, avatarange, akira45, Twiphase, The Shadowscythe, TheRedPheasnt, The Literary Lord, Starlog246, SplatoonFriend, Shadow queen 579, Luan Furtado, LocomotiveClown, IAmAbyss, GeekyGirl183, Fus Ro Duh, Darkillion, CaosD, Bud200, Bri2.23, Asmadey, AlchemyWriter, Disturbed1991, Gerden360, Halopro, KunoichiBeastKnightress, MrFoxHoundSir, Park117, kyrogue23, 10, and summering! Your support means the world to me. Enjoy the read!
Chapter 41: The stage is set
Taylor stepped into the Carmine mansion and heard Carmilla beckon to them from the second floor. Taylor turned at the voice as she spoke.
"You have sixty seconds to explain yourself." Carmilla said coldly as her red eyes gleamed brightly in fury.
"What, are you serious? Come on, you know me!" Taylor argued, bringing their hands to their chest indignantly. They glanced over at Clara and Odette to back them up, but they just shrugged and stayed at the door waiting.
"Clearly not well enough. Fifty seconds."
Taylor sighed in resignation.
'So this is how is has to be.' They bemoaned in their mind.
"Fine. Alastor nominated me without my knowledge. I had and still have no intention of becoming an Overlord!" They explained.
"Likely story. How do I know you two didn't plan this from the start?" She countered as she strode along the balcony, each step producing a clinking sound.
Taylor tilted their head in disbelief.
"Have you met Alastor? I'm only alive because Charlie ordered him to not hurt hotel guests. Otherwise, I'd be dead many times over with how often we've gotten into it." Taylor deadpanned.
Carmilla glared at them before responding.
"Thirty seconds."
Taylor's eyes widened in incredulity.
"Why don't you trust me when I say I don't want any of this?" They demanded angrily.
"The trust of the innocent is the liar's most useful tool. Twenty seconds." They answered stonily as she stared back at them with her hands clasped behind her back.
Taylor's temper flared at the insinuation.
"Listen, I've been honest with you all since the day we met and done nothing that would bring harm to you or your family." They seethed. "If you don't believe me, so be it. But if our friendship has meant anything to you, then vote me out of the running for Overlord and you'll never see me again." They said bitingly.
Carmilla's eyes widened for a moment before they narrowed again and shone brighter.
"Time's up." Carmilla declared as she leapt down from the second-floor balcony to attack from above.
Taylor gritted their teeth as they got into a defensive stance. Carmilla bent her leg to knee Taylor in the face, but they blocked the maneuver with their hands. Without missing a beat, Carmilla twisted her other leg around and kicked Taylor in the head, knocking them to the floor from the force of the impact.
Taylor barely had time to get up before they had to dodge another series of rapidly flowing kicks. They staggered as they tried to keep up.
"Seems to me you have two options right now." Carmilla said as she fluidly side stepped behind them and made to sweep kick them. Taylor jumped up to avoid getting tripped up and turned midair to face the demoness, but she was already out of sight again. They landed and scanned around quickly for Carmilla, only to receive a kick to their chest from seemingly out of nowhere, knocking them down again.
Taylor bristled in irritation and picked themselves up with a grunt before they saw Carmilla striding toward them with a glower.
"You keep refusing the position and all it entails, making yourself an easy target for more viscous demons." She warned callously.
'I'll show you an easy target.' they thought heatedly.
Gnashing their teeth, Taylor summoned a flaming sword and went on the offensive. They ran at the demoness and swung diagonally, but Carmilla did an elegant half pirouette to avoid the maneuver before slamming Taylor with a kick to the side again. With a grunt of frustration, they got back up and quickly swung horizontally when they were in range, only for Carmilla to leap into the air in an arc and land on the sword, pinning it to the floor. Taylor panicked as they let go and tried to back up, but not before Carmilla kneed them in the chin, sending them flying and landing painfully on their back. They coughed and held their jaw as they tasted blood and heard Carmilla's clinking strides approach.
"Or you take up the role and become a different kind of Overlord. One where you make the rules and keep you and your people safe." She said objectively.
'I make the rules, eh? Fine then.' Taylor considered as they stood up snarling and summoned four flaming tendrils from their back. Carmilla had a brief look of astonishment before she went back to staring them down harshly.
Carmilla swiftly leapt all around them, circling them. While she turned and pirouetted, Taylor watched carefully for her attack. They heard the clinking stop to their right, and they turned their head and used a tendril to block an oncoming kick. Carmilla twisted to do a rounding kick, but Taylor used another tendril to halt the counter strike. The demoness looked surprised before she swiped with her clawed hand toward Taylor's face, forcing them to shove her away hastily. Her ballet shoes scrapped along the floor as she slowed to a halt.
Carmilla bared her teeth angrily before bounding at full tilt around the room, disappearing from view behind pillars or on the second-floor balconies as Taylor focused on tracking her movements.
"Mother! Stop! That's enough!" They heard Odette call out, distracting them enough to lose sight of the ballerina Overlord. Their eyes and head darted around the place uneasily before a flash of white light above them drew their head up. Carmilla looked ferocious with red eyes shining brightly and her pointe shoes gleaming ominously in the light as she descended directly above them, ready to strike. Taylor stiffened as a warning bell went off in their head before they shot a tendril up, quick as lightning, wrapped it around one of Carmilla's ankles and yanked down, bringing the Overlord slamming into the ground with a crash. Taylor's eyes narrowed as they sent forth the other tendrils to encircle both of Carmilla's wrists and the other ankle. They lifted the immobilized demoness as she struggled and walked over to stand before her. They huffed testily before speaking in a clipped tone.
"I'm going with a third option. How about I get to make my own fucking decisions and if anyone has problems, I beat the after-living shit out of them until they leave me and my loved ones alone!" Taylor said wrathfully as their eyes blazed yellow and their hair undulated menacingly as the air started to smell acrid with smoke.
Carmilla's eyes were wide and a flicker of genuine fear passed over her before Taylor reverted back to normal with a deep sigh. They gently lowered the Overlord to the ground but held onto her loosely with the tendrils as they continued.
"I'm not going to hurt you, despite the hurtful things you said. I respect you too much for that. Just promise me a no vote and we'll be done." Taylor said as they stared dejectedly at a shocked Carmilla.
The two gazed at each other for a moment before Carmilla smirked and twisted her foot around quickly. Taylor blinked and hissed in pain as the tendril around her foot was sliced clean through and suddenly, they froze. They stood statue still and wide-eyed as Carmilla's ballet pointe shoe was at their throat and they felt a sharp sting on their neck where the lightest of cuts was made as the sharpness of her shoe dug into them. Taylor swallowed thickly and felt their pulse in their ears as they heard Carmilla speak.
"Never let your guard down with an opponent. They will take advantage of your kindness." Carmilla said simply before removing her foot from their neck. Taylor extinguished the tendrils and let out a ragged breath they didn't realize they were holding. They put a hand to their neck and it came back red, albeit only a little bit. They looked back at Carmilla hesitantly and nodded solemnly.
The Overlord's expression softened to smile at them comfortingly. She placed her hands on Taylor's shoulders as Clara and Odette rushed over in concern.
"If that's what you want, I'll respect it and vote no for you. I'll even ask Zestial and see if he'll do the same." She said with a hint of pride in her voice. "And I'm sorry. I believe you when you said you were being honest with us. Perdóname?" She finished with a look of regret.
Taylor was left nonplussed. After taking a moment to process, they smiled and nodded gratefully at Carmilla. The ballerina demoness gave a nod before removing her hands and clapping them together.
"Now that we've cleared the air, girls, go tend to Taylor's injuries and then you three are free to do as you please as I take care of some last-minute work. Taylor, you are free to join us for dinner, should you be interested." Carmilla informed them as she turned to head upstairs.
After Carmilla left, Taylor turned to Clara and Odette and commented with a chuckle.
"That was catching up? Boy, do I feel sorry for you when you're in actual trouble." They said with a wry grin.
After getting cleaned up and enjoying a pleasant dinner with the Carmines, Taylor made their way up the hill to the hotel, contemplating where things stood in terms of the Overlord vote.
'I have a tie in votes so far. Two yeses from Alastor and Rosie and two nos from Carmilla and Zestial. Seeing as its Alastor who nominated me, it might be safe to assume the Vees voting no. Zeezi is up in the air though. I might just pull this off.' They ruminated with hope as they made it to the doors.
They ambled into the lobby, finding it bereft of people besides Husk at the bar. They waved at the winged cat demon and took a seat.
"Where is everyone?" They asked.
"Hell if I know, I ain't nobody's keeper." He said gruffly before he continued. "Drink?"
Taylor pondered their options before answering.
"Hmm… can you make a sidecar?" They asked.
"Heh, when are ya gonna give me a challenge?" He said with a cocky smirk before turning around to mix up the cocktail.
With his back turned, Taylor looked over their shoulder and up toward the staircase, straining their ears to check if anyone else was nearby. Satisfied that they were alone, they decided to test a thought that was niggling at the back of their mind all day. They started humming a few bars of "My Favorite Things" from the Sound of Music and watched Husk intently.
"Here ya go, one sidecar." Husk proclaimed with a crooked grin as he placed the lemon rind in the glass and passed it to them. Taylor hid their disappointment as they look a sip of the drink.
'Guess that wasn't enough.' They pondered as Husk waited for the verdict.
"Rich, acidic, with a hint of sweetness. Altogether, perfectly balanced. I bow to you, sir!" Taylor commended with a playful flourish. Husk chuckled to himself and started cleaning up.
As they sipped their drink, they grimaced internally at what the logical progression was going to be in their experiment. They took a calming breath before they addressed the winged cat demon.
"You know…" they started, getting Husk's attention. "You're absolutely right. I have been going easy on you. Want to take a crack at something trickier?" They enticed with a challenging grin. Husk leaned one arm into the counter with a smug smile, clearly interested. "I'd like a Ramos Gin Fizz, barkeep." They dared smugly.
Husk gave a self-assured laugh as he leaned back.
"Ho ho, now we're talking!" He said excitedly as he started gathering items from the fridge and shelf.
'Okay, here goes.' They said in their head as they cleared their throat and steeled themselves.
They began singing the beginning of Charlie's "It Starts with Sorry" to the winged cat demon.
"It starts with sorry, that's your foot in the door. One simple sorry, spoken straight from your core. The path to forgiveness is a twisting trail of hearts, but sorry is where it starts." They sang brightly with a velvety tone that conveyed the hopefulness of the lyrics.
They watched Husk flinch, his eyes go wide, and his ears perk forward after a few words. He then began to languidly lean into the counter and his eyes glossed over. He gazed moonily while smiling bemusedly at the fire demon on the other side of the counter as they finished their rendition. Taylor sat and watched Husk stare pleasantly at them for a few minutes to see what would happen, but the cat demon remained in his trance-like state until Taylor spoke up.
"Husk?" They called out tentatively.
He suddenly blinked a few times before standing back up and stared back at them, confused.
"Whazzat?" He replied quickly.
Taylor smiled kindly before reminding him.
"The Ramos Gin Fizz?" They prompted.
"Oh. Yeah. Sorry 'bout that, must've drifted off. Maybe I outta cut back a smidge on the booze." He apologized as he got back to his task.
Taylor put their head in their hand as they processed what just occurred.
'Huh. Interesting. Very interesting.' They contemplated as wheels starting turning in their head. They brought out the flier for the cabaret club from earlier and started thinking of what to say to Antonio and Melanie when Husk interrupted them with their drink.
"One Ramos Gin Fizz!" He declared superiorly as he crossed his arms confidently.
Taylor took the drink and took a sip. While the flavor was there the texture was way off, which Taylor ascribed to them interrupting the preparation rather than Husk's skill. They put on a forced smile.
"It's like dessert in a glass! You've got a gift, Husk!" They said as they subtly choked down the drink.
Husk laughed boisterously as he blew his own horn proudly.
After several more attempts and drinks under their belt, Taylor stumbled back to their room with a better idea of how their hypnotic singing ability worked: if they sang loud or long enough, their target would fall into a dream-like trance and stay that way indefinitely until Taylor spoke once again. They also learned their target became highly susceptible to suggestion, if Taylor being allowed to pet Husk's ears when prompted was any indicator. If they didn't give any instruction, then their target would revert to normal, sometimes confused, but not always. After getting ready, they clambered into bed with the start of a plan for their next dealmaker job.
Taylor waited at the wings of the stage, grinding their teeth in annoyance. After convincing Antonio and Melanie to find a target that would frequent Mimzy's club and assuage them that they had a way to get around all the cannibals in the area, they and a few other contacts were planted in the cabaret club, with Taylor going in as a performer.
In regards to the club proprietor, Taylor could see why Alastor was friends with Mimzy, as they took an instant dislike to the short and curvy flapper girl demoness. The woman was a self-centered brat that demanded constant attention from whomever was in the room. The only good thing Taylor could say about her was she was a natural born performer, with her singing and dancing skills being quite impressive to watch.
Taylor's act had been an instant hit, which only happened because after they sang, they instructed their audience to believe that to cover for their stage fright and amateurish ability to perform the social jazz dances like the Charleston or the Shimmy well. For the job they were disguised as a red flapper devil demon with red skin, black horns, a long red tail, short black hair styled in a bob, and a yellow flapper-style dress and hair band with yellow feathers.
For the past couple of weeks, Taylor had been burning the candle at both ends, what with their redemption program responsibilities at the hotel, contract breaking work, and rehearsal for their debut night. Thanks to the contract annulment reinvigoration, they were able to keep up with everything, but things needed to change soon for their sanity's sake.
They were anxiously waiting to be dismissed for the night to go home, but everyone had to wait for Mimzy to finish sweet talking her way out of some loan shark demons threatening to do harm to the club if she didn't pay back what she owed.
'Come on! Some people got work in the morning, you rude bitch.' Taylor grumbled irritably in their head.
Finally, the flapper demoness sauntered over to the waiting staff and she addressed them in her shrill nasally voice.
"Alright ya big palookas, settle down now! I know you all were waiting on little ol' me to give ya some good news, and here it is! We have a couple of big wigs coming to the club tomorrow night, so I want all of you to get your beauty sleep and be ready to dance the night away and wow these high-rollers!" She declared with a bunch of confetti for emphasis.
Taylor looked over to one of their contacts, who nodded back, indicating that their target was on the guest list. They smiled at the prospect of only having to endure this club and Mimzy for one more night and never having to see her again.