Scene VII - Shield Brothers.

Takes place in: Month I - Day 8.

"Pull you motherfuckers! PULL!"

"Bring more magic you fucking shits!"

"We DON'T have more magic, bitch! It is all physical until those lanky fucks come back!"

Rosie couldn't help but rub the area where the bridge of her nose would've been. All these Imps were doing a good job, but there was a reason her little area of Pentagram had so few of them.

Even the family didn't curse this much. They even fought less.

The lot DID a good job, though. They were employed by Lucifer for a reason.

Rosie utterly hated the cubes that were the homes built in this soon to be town within the Tower. However! She'd admit that, despite despising the look, she admired the efficiency. The family had houses brought to them through magic in a week. Even Carlos' own little Estate was growing. Her little hunter had enough space for his group already.

But this squabble wasn't helping. And the front of a half finished house was not a safe place to start a brawl.

"Okay, settle down!" Rosie raised her voice enough to make the small horde of red creatures flinch. "You are here to keep on building this little town in the making, not fight. You can do that during lunch time if you wish. The family doesn't mind and I won't care either." She snapped her fingers as a signal for attention to the small group of Imps that was trying to scurry away. "So get your backs to it, boys. Magic may help, but we don't have Lord Lucifer here. We can't just conjure materials from thin air."

"Look, lady, we-."

"Watch out!"

Rosie took a step back the moment she heard the warning and saw a chunk of the house fall from the top. Magic made sure things stuck together, but unfinished business was unfinished business. And as the chunk rained down on the Imp about to mouth Rosie, the Overlord could only grimace at the mess about to happen.

A decisive and savvy Imp would've jumped out of the way. A dumbstruck one? Not so much. And in this case this Imp had more balls and gall than he had brain capacity. Somehow it just wasn't processing that he was about to die.

"Got ya!"

Or he would've, if a pair of hands hadn't saved his bacon.

The brothers Enrique and Javier had taken up on Carlos' attempt to help the builders after the curse took place. Many of those in the family had been around the hellborn while Carlos was up and about, but now that the new curse had wracked his body in enough pain to garner a second day in bed, only five of the mortals were around, and one of them was asked to remain at the door that led within the Tower.

Both brothers held cement sacks like they were nothing, with the nervous imp panting between them, saved by a hair from becoming a black stain on the wet ground of the First Level. The imp patted himself in surprise, almost hyperventilating as he saw the brothers chuckle before the younger patted his back.

"Watch out, little man. You guys seem bent on getting yourselves hurt." Enrique chuckled as he hefted the sack on his shoulder once more.

Javier was, as always, more stern. "Don't mess around a construction site. I shouldn't need to tell you this."

"Ah, don't be like that, bro. Live a little." Enrique sniggered as he dodged his brother's punch. Had he done otherwise he'd be on the ground clutching his belly. "But he is right, man. I don't know if you guys don't care or whatever, but none of us wants any of you squished."

The Imp looked somewhat taken aback. Rosie was not. Most Hellborn didn't like the idea of dying for obvious reasons, and many were quite the cowardly and skittish bunch, but death was seen as fairly normal here. Many would grieve a death, but such things were ephemeral, rarely lasting like in the living world. Hell was relentless and cruel, despite its civilized state. And Imps? They were the most common, both in population and casualties.

To have someone of higher 'rank' or status worry about your safety was rare indeed. This one in particular seemed more than surprised.

"I-uh. Sure." The Imp cleared his throat. "I'll… just get the guys to help finish this up." He said waiting just a moment before going back to the group that had stopped their squabbling after the near fatal accident.

Javier gave the Imp a curt nod. "Do that. We don't want anyone getting hurt. Workers or 'settlers', we said none of you were to be harmed."

"Weird as fuck that we are going to have a small comunity here. And our own homes too!" Enrique seemed pleased despite the strangeness of it all. It wasn't until he noticed Rosie looking at him with a curious expression that he waved his way. "Hey Rosie."

Javier sneered at his brother for a second before he too faced the Overlord. "My Lady."

The brothers had such duality. While Enrique was far more like Gonzalo, if far less abrasive, Javier was more like Carlos with his respect, though Rosie would readily admit he was far more curt and stony in his approach. Not something to complain about, but it was clear that Enrique was far more welcoming of Rosie's presence, despite being much more casual, than his brother would be for a long time.

Then again, Enrique had been more inclined to follow his grandmother, despite the clear betrayal he felt about her actions and her plan to basically commit suicide by proxy by fighting every demon they could find. At least Rosie could understand that, unlike others, like Gonzalo for example, both brothers had earned a quick smidge of respect among her Cannibals. They were both nice and approachable in different ways.

"I see you are still helping around, boys." Rosie nodded towards the load both brothers were carrying. "Not planning on taking a day off?"

"Staying put is not my thing, my lady." Javier shrugged as he walked off to deliver the sack.

"We can't leave Carlos to do everything." Enrique was a bit more verbose. "Besides, getting shit done is important here. I don't know if we are going to count as nobles too like Carlos, but I bet he isn't going to be as lazy as one, and neither are we."

Rosie was pleased as she saw the Imps once more doing their best, other demons of varied species and in many other groups quickly following them back to work. Either seeing the humans or the accident had done more than the Overlord's presence.

These people served Lucifer, so Rosie wasn't surprised they didn't get intimidated by just an Overlord milling about. Their own 'patrons' doing more than them? That could fuck them over, though. At least if they told the big boss.

"I can see that, and I am thankful that you are still going strong." Rosie offered the pair, now that Javier was back, a gentle smile with far less teeth than usual.

"We want this done, my lady." Javier nodded quickly. "And we don't want people hurt. What I said to the Imp? That was a fact."

"Carlos wanted to be around to make sure that was clear." Enrique agreed. "And we agreed. Me and my brother? We protect our own, Rosie, just as Carlos would. We'll make sure no one gets hurt while we are around."

Javier cracked his knuckles. "Even if we have to give a painful reminder or two. Carlos knows a bit of tough love does wonders."

Rosie's smile grew wider. "That is always good to hear, my darlings. The less accidents, the sooner we'll be done."

"Of course." Enrique offered the Overlord a smile. "Speaking of which; I got to talk with Carlos a bit before he passed out on Eve's arms."

There was a chuckle there, but Rosie had to wonder why Enrique brought it up, other than making fun of his cousin that is. "Oh? Anything important?"

"Nah, not really." Enrique shrugged. "He just wanted to tell you, again, that he is sorry for taking this 'downtime'. He'd prefer to be around doing work, or seeing if you need something."

"I… see." Rosie did her best to remain composed. This was why her thoughts had been straying despite her attempts at reining them in! "Do tell him that it is appreciated. But he should take care of himself first. Rushing will get him hurt and we DON'T want that, do we?"

Those words got the duo to chuckle. Surely they knew their cousin would do something stupid, or he'd beat himself over for not being 'all that was expected of him'. Either way, Rosie saw they were confident enough in Carlos not doing something stupid. So with a last smile he bid them goodbye and good day.

And as Rosie got two nods, the brothers going back to work, she had to wonder. Just how nice this new community would look? Hopefully her little aesthetic preferences would flourish here in the future.

Either way, while Carlos was still hurt, today was going at a decent pace. The Overlord was pleased. But her thoughts? Her thoughts strayed again.

She needed to talk this out with someone. Soon. Perhaps she could get a hold of Alastor in a day or two.