Ouroboros - Day By Day

by Uros Osium

Any great story has many important events to be sure. But every tale not only has to begin with a single step: It requires many smaller moments to reach its end. For a new beginning, every day has a little tale within itself, and every single one of them is a grain of sand that tips the scales as they fall.

29. Sidestory I - Similar, not the same (P6)

Side Story I - Similar, not the same (VI).

Rosie's grandfather clock ticked away, second by second, for five minutes. Neither woman had moved an inch or said anything after Carlos left. Both knew that someone would tell him that Evelinde was going to be busy for a while longer, so that was one loose end they didn't need to worry about.

Because Rosie had worries clear on her face already.

"This is wrong."

Evelinde didn't know what to say. She had used the false wall to go from Rosie's office to Franklin with ease. A thin enough thing that, when activated, allowed for Rosie's otherwise soundproof place to communicate with Franklin's own pad, be it through sound or, as the Cambion had proved, as a means to physically connect.

But the younger woman didn't say anything. For once she did not wait for command or invitation. After Rosie spoke again it was like something kicked in. She walked to the other side of the couch and took a seat. Today had been…

Different.

"You know, I didn't mention it before, but I didn't know you had been that close to my grandmother and grandfather, Rosie." Honorifics were off. Rosie asked for it to be this way and, to be perfectly clear, for once Evelinde couldn't find herself willing to use them.

Rosie knew where this was likely going. For now it was an apt distraction. "I didn't exactly let you say much."

"I wouldn't have known what to say anyway." Evelinde shrugged. Both women were looking forward, ignoring each other and eyeing the wall as if it was the most interesting thing in the room. This was perhaps not uncomfortable, but it wasn't something they were used to. "But… I wanted to ask. How?"

Rosie's lips turned ever so slightly downwards. "I told you already."

"No, well, yes." Evelinde allowed her frustration to show for once as she fully turned to face Rosie. "How did it mess you so much, Rosie? I always thought your relationships had been perfect. That only envious demons and wrathful angels took them away from you."

Rosie chuckled as she flicked away what few droplets remained around her eyes. Fuck that perfect image of hers.

"I am old, my dear." Rosie admitted, though she certainly didn't look like it. "Power made sure I don't look like it, but I have many winters behind me. And you know what that means?" A rueful smile rode her words as she spoke. "Failures. So many failures."

Evelinde was at a loss. Had Rosie ever failed? Had she ever made a mistake? Not in front of her.

"When I was younger I made so many mistakes. I messed up so many ways! You'd find it funny, I am sure." Rosie had to chuckle too. A few of those early bumblings had been special in their own way. "But you know the worst mistakes I made? Those that had to do with love."

"But… all those stories?"

"They are just stories, dear." Rosie couldn't help but laugh. "I wish my lovers had the loyalty Lilith and Lucifer show each other. I wish my friendships were as tight as the one Zestial and Carmilla hold." Though it was oh so badly hidden that they had more than friendship going on. "But that is not me, my dear. I have the power my long life confers… but nothing else. And it took me far too long to get it, only to lose much when I let people in."

Evelinde just couldn't believe it. "That is a lie, Rosie."

"Is it?" Rosie turned enough to face Evelinde. "I scraped to get where I am at first, Evelinde. I had to be a master of all skills needed for an Overlord. I had to watch my back from friends and foes alike. And you know what happened? I grew tired of that. I let people in. I allowed myself to be weak. And then I got stabbed in the back, many times." There was so much vitriol there. "I found out my taste in men is beyond subpar most of the time. And the good ones I find? Always taken and/or uninterested in me. Or worse: I find them when I myself shackle my future to another asshole." Rosie felt the desire to spit, acid if at all possible. So far gone was her persona and so caustic were the memories. "Your grandfather was the last one, much like my husband at the time."

"I thought about Alastor before your grandfather came around, you know?" Rosie wasn't done, and Evelinde was paying rapt attention to every word coming from Rosie's mouth. "I thought we could click. And we do… but not as I wanted us to. For various reasons." The Overlord shook her head, some mirth coming back to her. It was not happiness, not fully. More like an in-joke at this point. "By the time I truly considered that option, Alastor and I had been friends for a good four decades after all. He had seen how I was with men. How hungry I could become. How controlling. How cruel and mean of a streak I could develop… And how much of a failure I was in a relationship." And yes, they did rib at each other; one fucked up all the time, the other didn't even try. "He was uncharacteristically gentle when he came about letting me down, but he also told me, sincerely, that he didn't see it working. In a different world? Who knows. Although there is another reason."

Evelinde became curious as Rosie smirked with a more mischievous air to her. "Alastor is one of those souls that does not change because he can't. He didn't know it in life, but all the signs are there; he wants to find the perfect woman, but any idea of romance makes him scoff. He wishes to have someone to dote on, but the mere thought of physical closeness, or sex, is completely alien, or disgusting, to him." She snickered as she said something she knew Alastor would never get. "He is an ace in the hole (I wish to tell him that to his face one day by the way), and at more than a hundred years old he is still unaware." Rosie shook her head with at least a little bit of mirth in her voice. "That doesn't mean he would do all he thinks he wants if he ever found the 'right' woman, but I highly doubt he ever will."

Evelinde made a little 'o' face at the thought. Rosie and Alastor? She had fantasies about the two pairing. It would've made the Cannibal Colony the greatest place in Hell, or so she had wanted to believe.

But for Alastor, after a hundred years in Hell, to still be stuck as a mortal in mindset? That… she hadn't ever thought of it. Much less of the man being asexual, or aromantic. He had always stuck her as someone wishing for a partner. A perfect partner, as Rosie had said, something hard to find, but he had always looked invested in the idea.

Or was that just what he thought he wanted? If he didn't know, then he would never accept the change brought by Hell. One of the many ways the place messed with you. You could change and adapt or, you could remain forever the same. There were two options, no more.

"So I had a great friend I knew I could be more with, but not in his eyes. Bummer, right?" Though Rosie's attempt at humor was piss poor considering her own failing smile. "Deserved, though. I made so many mistakes, like I told you. I hurt so many people then, I still hurt many now…" The Overlord offered a pitiful smile to the younger woman. "Hell is a place of suffering, dear. Everything you do will come to bite you. Everyone has at least one thing that crashes and burns. For me? It was my love life."

Evelinde frowned. "You don't deserve that, Rosie."

"Not that many people deserve the shit they get in Hell, despite what we say about most Sinners." Rosie scoffed. "You know this. Besides, my dear, we EAT people."

"So what?" Evelinde got her hands on her hips, face clearly showing just how angry she was at the thought. "Does that mean I deserve what I just got to crumble, like all my other attempts? Or that you deserve to be this hurt and feeling alone? I think not."

Rosie was actually surprised that Evelinde wasn't hurling insults at her. To see her angry on her behalf? That was a step too far. It was as if Evelinde still respected her after what Rosie had asked of her.

"It doesn't seem like what I asked of you sunk in yet." Rosie smirked at the younger woman. "Otherwise-."

"I do not mind if you ever ask him." Evelinde cut to the chase instead, making Rosie stumble. "I already share him with other women as is. Women I barely know, just as I barely know him still. And don't forget: More will join in. But I care about them, and I hope to care about those that come in later, as sudden as it has been." The young Cambion couldn't help but let out a chuckle. Whether it was resignation coated or not, not even she knew. "It is not the worst arrangement I have heard of in Hell. Besides, I feel some kind of kinship with them. And you? I care about you more than them, Rosie. You have been my hero since forever. I want you to be happy and I'd be honored to have you as something other than my 'boss'."

"..." Rosie found herself at a loss of words. "This part is… This one is very close to another moment in my life, Evelinde."

"Does it have to do with grandma Anastasia?" Evelinde's everlasting curiosity fired up. "Did she also agree?"

"Despite the many teasing remarks she offers me whenever your grandfather is mentioned? Yes." At last Rosie felt herself relax. Not fully, she was still tense considering everything, but it was a start. "Alan had always been special that way. Anastasia wouldn't have shared him with anyone else. She was so clingy. But she was also one of the few women under my care that truly wished to befriend me. Just as insane as you in her younger days, though you know how mellow she is now."

Evelinde pouted. "I am not insane! Just… special in my interests and dedication."

"Aren't we all?" Rosie chuckled at the poor girl's ever growing pout, until Evelinde huffed and looked away. "But… Do you wish for something in return, Eve?"

This did make Evelinde look mad. "I am not asking for anything, Rosie! You know me better than that."

"I don't mean like that, dear." Rosie calmed the younger woman, simply placing a hand on her shoulder was enough. "I mean if you want to know."

"Know?" The question felt strange on her lips for once Evelinde wasn't sure why. "What do you mean?"

"A few secrets you haven't been told." Rosie explained with a thin smile. "About your grandmother. Your grandfather. Why I fell for him. What… reminds me of him when I see you with Carlos, or when he talks to me."

It took Evelinde a second and no longer to decide. "Yes."

Rosie could hardly contain a laugh. "First let me tell you; your grandma almost didn't come back here after she got summoned."

Evelinde's eyes widened. Even the light within seemed to grow. "Excuse me!?"

"Oh, of course she took a page of my book and covered her ass, didn't she?" Rosie sniggered at Evelinde's surprise and indignation. "Truth be told, she got lucky. Anastasia was never a slouch in a fight, but she was more a surprise predator than anything else. The piece of shit that got her summoned? He was prepared and had company. The preparations weren't good enough and the company lacked quality to survive if something went to Hell, no pun intended, but your grandma almost didn't live to tell the tale. With enough people and preparations, even a hero can be felled by a single arrow."

"... I always thought grandma had been untouchable back then." Evelinde didn't lose any appreciation for her grandmother, but it was slightly disappointing to know she had 'touched up' that story. Probably more than just that one now that she thought about it.

"She was, don't get me wrong." Fond memories flooded to Rosie. Anastasia was truly a man eater in the best sense of the word, for a Cannibal at least. "She was a great hunter, tracker and fighter if needed. But she much preferred to stick to the shadows. You are far more of an all rounder than her when it comes to that. A good blend of what she knew, what she did, and how your mother took a more direct approach once she was taught how to keep herself safe."

Evelinde hummed. All she knew were the stories. Anastasia had helped her daughters, Evelinde's mom and aunt, to become monsters in combat. But it had been them, and not Anastasia, the ones to prepare Evelinde for adulthood. Anastasia, while loving and caring, hadn't involved herself in that.

Her grandmother had been wary of fighting for a long while now. She could still kill, and she did, but she didn't seem to derive any pleasure from it any longer.

"But it is important for you to know that your grandmother almost died. It should not retract from her tale, no matter how she decided to spin it. Anastasia was a whirlwind of death when needed. A true craftsman when she truly fought someone, not just ambushed them for a quick kill. For a demon not much younger than me, and uninterested in becoming an Overlord, she always had such potential." Rosie's smile waned a bit. "And it was that fact alone that scared your grandfather."

Evelinde blinked. "It… scared him? He was scared of grandma?"

"Oh? No! No, never." Rosie hurried to say. "Alan loved your grandmother like nothing else. He only feared Anastasia would someday enjoy violence more than her family. Something you know is very possible with our kind. Alan would've never allowed that, for he knew it would've destroyed your grandmother in mind and body if it ever happened. He would've died for her… He died for her, to save his daughters. Because he could not bear the idea of losing any of them, of hurting Anastasia. He faced the most dangerous thing in Hell, my dear."

"He… did?" This part Evelinde had never heard about.

"Yes. It…" Rosie rubbed her face. She hated that memory. "See, your mother and her sister were already sixteen and fifteen. Alan had been with us for almost eighteen years by then. At that point I had been married for twenty five, and I was reaching my limit." A bad taste filled Rosie's mouth. "Pietro, my husband at the time, did not care for my preferred lifestyle. I knew that much, but I ignored him bad mouthing me or going away from Pentagram to enjoy his more preferred ways of doing things. This, unfortunately, also included embezzling from me."

Evelinde felt anger pool in her chest. How could anyone cheat on Rosie that way? "Why did you allow that man to do that?"

"I hurt him, a lot, in the past." Rosie felt much anger towards Pietro, but part of it was undeserved. She made her own bed. "I forced many things on him. He was the last man I had any interest in, other than your grandfather, and I had grown tired of trying. When I first met Pietro I thought I found the one. We had so many things in common, despite a few particular differences. I thought we were closer than we really were, more compatible. I suppose I saw him like I wanted to, not how it truly was. Pietro didn't seem opposed at first, but he tried to push back with certain topics and rules I saw as a must and… I pushed harder. I tried to groom him into the perfect man for me." Rosie grimaced. "It backfired."

"Wallowing in self pity at my own actions was how Anastasia brought Alan into my place seven years after I got married with someone that I already made sure would detest me, that only found me useful at that point. By then I knew my marriage had been destroyed, by me no less, as was usually the case. But, as always, I fought to keep up appearances, to repair it all and have what I wanted." Of course Rosie knew back then it wouldn't work, but she fought until the end. "Then Alan came in. He left everything behind; his life, his possessions, his achievements… He had no family left, so he found no problem taking in your grandmother's surname. His last 'friends' were the ones that almost sacrificed him. All he had any attachment left for were old lands from his family that no one cared about." Rosie clearly found that notion sad, but Evelinde would learn soon enough why. "When he first arrived he was sad, afraid and dejected. But with time that changed, and soon he grew very close to Anastasia. He learned from her to defend himself. He professed loyalty to your grandmother in days, friendship to me in but two weeks, and he integrated into our little corner as if he could think of nowhere else to be. Well, that last part was not wholly true as you'll see, but he truly cared for this community if nothing else."

The Overlord had a twinkle in her eye. Those were, despite the bad, very good days. "Your grandmother is one of the few people I can truly call friends anymore. So was the case with Alan. And you know what? He made me find out what I wanted." Rosie let out a dreamy sight at the memory. "Loyalty, sincerity, friendship, love, sincere and true love… something so rare in Hell, so rare in a hellborn, or a Sinner. Alan had that, and he took shit from no one to boot, not after he came here. He even proposed to Anastasia after he carved a Sinner's heart out, with his bare hands." She chuckled a bit at the memory. Evelinde could only picture such a romantic image in her mind, though the two figures there weren't those of her grandmother and grandfather. A woman can dream. "Your grandmother found out I fancied her husband long before I did. I may notice things in others, but I always tried to ignore what I wanted, or needed… or how I missed the cues when I finally admitted to myself that I wanted something. It is how I made so many mistakes. It is also how I managed to become an Overlord. I made many sacrifices, be it relationships, happiness or people." Rosie's smile thinned. "With Alan I just didn't want to bother. It was only going to end badly."

Evelinde looked at her lady, her idol and superior, with curious eyes. "And you took almost eighteen years to do something about it?"

"... I am no coward, Evelinde. But I am a woman that plans. I hardly get involved in many things, not directly at least. And in this case? I was married again. And I was trying to keep up images, trying to fix things." Rosie sighed. "It didn't work out. I lost Pietro the same day we lost Alan, but I only regret one of them. The other? The other I should have done away with a long time ago. Things would've been different then."

She wanted to ask. But should she? Evelinde was morbidly curious. In the end, curiosity won. "What happened?"

"Anastasia finally forced me to sit down and talk. She wasn't going to give up her man, but she wasn't against sharing with me. Anastasia was not my oldest and truest friend, but she had been with me, supporting me, for very long. She is not that much younger than me, even if I like to tease her on that front." The Overlord had a twinkle in her eye that hinted at something, but she didn't say a thing. "I… liked the idea. Alan cared for me greatly, we had bonded over the years, and I had hopes." Rosie took a shaky breath. "Sadly, certain events at the time made me miss the date. Anger and apprehension, nervousness and want. It all made every day blur into a jumbled mess. And when I finally found the time and courage? It was Extermination day."

Evelinde stood still. The Exterminators rarely target the Cannibal Colony, but they did come. Of all hellborn it was the Cannibals the ones more often attacked. Why did they ignore Lucifer's clause about hellborn with them so often with no repercussions? Evelinde didn't know.

But humans were nowhere in that deal. If those protected were attacked too, then what about mortals? Evelinde already knew they were no better than Sinners in an angel's eyes. Perhaps even worse.

"Alan was unaware too. He had been busy with a few things, so when I was convinced to talk with him I did not care for time. I tried to get the ball rolling, asking a few questions that I hoped would lead to something… I don't remember the particular question I asked, but I remember he told me something that made me get close to tearing up for reasons completely opposite to Carlos' own." Rosie couldn't for the life of her remember the question. It was something important, but her mind didn't want her to know what it was. "He told me he had been trying to find a way for Anastasia and his girls to live in the living world. To get out of Hell. He wanted them safe. He loved the community he had been part of, and he cared for many people here. But he thought Hell was not the place to be. He wanted a bigger family and for it to be safe from the constant threat that were the angels and the Extermination, away from the chance of Anastasia degenerating. Heh… We didn't know just how soon he would be proven right." Rosie's mood dropped, but she still sounded happy. "Still, I was… glad. He was caring for his family as much as I wanted someone to care for me. I was extremely envious, but happy for Anastasia."

"Then-."

"Then the Extermination began, and I found out your mother and aunt had been helping your grandfather with a few chores." Rosie cut Evelinde before anything else could be said. "They were outside, and that year the angels were coming in hot. And Anastasia? She had been out of Pentagram at the time. That is something that eats at her till this day, much like my own mistakes keep coming back to me every so often. Part of her reason was to allow me a chance to sit down and talk with Alan without her distracting me, part of her reasons were far more mundane and unimportant to the story. Either way, all she thinks about is what could've been: Her whole family, dead."

Her mother and aunt could've died. Evelinde could find no words to express what she felt. And her own grandmother thought herself a failure most likely. That day clearly left more than a mark.

"Your grandfather realized it first. I followed him soon after he dashed out the door. The outside was a mess from the get go and a lot of people were dead in minutes. That year was pure bedlam." Rosie hated this part. It had been a bloodbath not even her people had enjoyed. That year was horrific. "Even worse? My asshole of a husband decided to try and take everything he could that day. Ironic how he had apparently planned it for five years, only to get impaled after getting out of our house. Hah! Only good fucking thing about that day. Good riddance."

And that was all she got as happiness before it got crushed. Evelinde could see the hurt in Rosie as she finished the story. "We found your mother and aunt after witnessing that particular execution. Unfortunately, so did the angel that killed my husband. She barked an order and soon another Exterminator dived in, halberd in hand. The woman took a swipe at your mother, but missed. She didn't land however, so I had time to grab the two of them. Sadly, the angel was far too fast and agile, and someone had to die, or at least get maimed, for her to have enough. She flew high, took a turn and went for us." Rosie took a deep breath. "Alan pushed her away using his whole body and as much speed as he could put in a savage tackle, but the angel had taken a swing already and it only needed a small adjustment for her to fend of the man assaulting her. It hit him in the scalp." Rosie motioned to her head. The left side had her claws running down her hair. "He lived, and I dragged everyone away. But that was the end of Alan."

"But… you said you killed him."

Rosie nodded. Evelinde was right. "I did. Or… at least I ended what was left of him." Rosie took a deep, shaky breath as she shivered at the memory. "The wound did not kill your grandfather. And, luckily, the damage wasn't too deep. But he was mostly gone. Something happened to him. Did the attack hurt his brain? Was the weapon enchanted beyond the usual? We don't know, but something was for sure. His personality turned… wrong. Even for a demon, more so for a human. He was like an animal most of the time; feral, lost, angry, hungry. Almost like the Cannibals that degenerate or give in to their base instincts, only worse."

"I had a talk with Anastasia." How Rosie wanted some tea for this. Something calming. Something to soothe her nerves. But she felt it would just dilute it all. "It was a month after the Extermination, and she couldn't bear it anymore. It hurt her so much. Every second, every minute, every hour… It was a reminder that Alan was gone. The man we both cared for was no more. The man that changed your grandmother to be a much more caring person, the man that made Anastasia grow a conscience and become a mother, the man that raised your mother and aunt into the women they are now. He ceased to exist."

Evelinde found her claws to be of interest. Her 'malformed' hands, in a sense. The claws would never retract. They were a gift from her heritage. Something she was proud of. Would the man that was her grandfather have loved her as she was? It had always been a question in her mind.

It pained her to think that Heaven took the possibility of knowing away from her. Evelinde always thought he had passed away from something that came from Hell, not because Rosie had mercy killed him after his mind was gone.

"Anastasia offered me a… deal, of shorts. Not one to shake hands over, she couldn't do that. I wouldn't have wanted it either." Rosie couldn't hold it any longer. She allowed Evelinde some time, but she had to finish it. "I could do what I wanted with… that animal, if I put him to rest."

Evelinde gulped. "Did you…?"

"No." Rosie shook her head. "But I wanted to, at first. I wanted… one last good memory. Perhaps something else." And shame filled her breast as Rosie took a hand to her lower body. Evelinde knew what Rosie had hoped for. "I hadn't been able to bring myself to visit him since the Extermination ended. I felt this was my fault. I should have taken care of everything earlier. I should have prepared. That Extermination hit us like a freight train, and it was in great part because I was in my own head, full of misery and longing." This was no lie. It was Rosie's duty to protect her people. She had failed. "But I saw your grandmother's pain. I saw your mother and your aunt's suffering. And when I laid eyes on the beast Alan had turned out into? My own desires didn't matter anymore, as it should've been the day I made that mistake."

"Rosie-."

"It was painless. Swift. Angelic steel so he wouldn't come back here, broken. He deserved that much." Rosie was quick to add. "We went to Alan's family's resting place. Gallic ancestral lands: A beautiful forest with ruins deep within. There we buried him. I could ask Anastasia to take you there sometime. She never did because she didn't know how to tell you this story."

Clearly Rosie didn't want to talk about the topic any further, but Evelinde had to be thankful. She had been far more forthcoming than her own family had always been. Then again, she understood why, now that she knew.

"After that day your grandmother became obsessed with the mind and its fragility. She searched for all she could find. Therapy, medicine, alchemy. Whatever it is, she tries to master it. Anastasia is determined to never have something like that happen ever again. It is not a topic she likes to indulge in with your mother or aunt, and one I doubt she'd ever touch with you, even after I told you about this." Rosie sighed. She understood the woman, but she missed her company whenever she took these excursions. "I wish she'd come back. It has been months."

Evelinde wished so too. It would be something special to have her family together to bring Carlos into the fold. That said, she allowed Rosie a few moments of peace before she asked the question. "Then… What about Carlos?"

"His loyalty attracts me. His sincerity brings me joy. His bloodlust excites me. And how she tries to be friendly with us? How he does his best to love after being hurt so much? It completes the feeling of longing when you sprinkle it with that darkness he keeps contained within and the thrill when I imagine what he'll become." Rosie didn't need more prompting. She knew what Evelinde was asking about. "What does he represent, for me? What Alan had, what I wanted. But he is not Alan, my dear. He is Carlos. I am chasing ghosts and I know it. It is an obsession now, Evelinde. An unhealthy one."

"Just an obsession?"

Was it? Rosie held her breath for a second. "I want to think it was just that, but… When he said he'd spend eternity with me…"

That made Evelinde chuckle despite everything. "He was a romantic for most of his life. He spent almost a decade being abused by lovers just because that damn curse was in place. He was a man that loved to be pleasing in any way he could, and it only grew worse out of desperation. You could say he blunders, but he also says what he knows you desire, even if he himself doesn't realize it." She closed in to Rosie, nudging her gently with her shoulder as she stayed in contact. "But I can tell you he meant it. You gave him a chance at life when all was pointing at his death. It is a chance in Hell, yes, but you did. You are a great woman. It is early, yes, but he cares about you because you care about him. He returns your affections, Rosie."

"He shouldn't. I am a selfish woman, Evelinde." Rosie wanted to move away, yet there she sat. "And you shouldn't enable me."

"Well, he should care, he already does and he will continue to do so." Evelinde took her hat away and rested her head on Rosie's shoulder. The contact made the older woman twitch. "And I am not enabling. I am encouraging you. Carlos is a very loving person, except to those that hurt him or his family. You won't do that, not without reason or explaining why. And I know you will get closer to him. If you do that, if you ask him… he'll ask us. He won't reject you. He will want to give you all he can, even some as dear to him as his heart."

"And what will the girls tell him then?" Rosie couldn't look at the Cambion. "What would any of you want with me meddling in on this? Why would any of you let me in on this relationship of yours? His heart, heh. It has already been battered enough for me to go and get involved, my dear. I would make it worse when there are still MORE women to come." Rosie closed her eyes. "I am just an old woman that fucked up far too many times." Her voice seemed to age. Her pain was apparent. Evelinde had to resist the desire to hug her as Rosie let out how she felt about herself. "I am nothing more than a cruel, old loveless crone."

"That is not true and you know it. You just want an excuse to not try. We both know the pain love brings." The Cambion shook his head, but she could understand Rosie very well on this. "Once we all are on the same page? After he finally trusts us and lets us in?" Evelinde knew she was taking a risk, but she also knew, for some reason, that she was right. "We will welcome you, in whatever way you want to be there. You are a great woman, Rosie. You have always been. That won't change, ever."

And Evelinde fully believed it. Rosie was incredible. Even if she wasn't perfect, even if she had made up a persona, a mask, just like Evelinde carried around, only a more personal one, the young Cambion truly believed Rosie to be the greatest woman she had ever known.

"Oh, and Rosie?" The Overlord just hummed as Evelinde pushed further. Rosie couldn't help but mull what she was just told. "Carlos will survive. We will survive. I wish grandpa had. It hurt a lot of people and I never knew him, or the truth… But this time? It will be different. This time, I will make sure you have the happiness you deserve. It is what grandma wants, I know it. It is what my mother and my aunt would want for everything you did for them. It is what *I* want, for all you have done for me." Evelinde offered a smile, even if Rosie couldn't see it. "My lady."

The young Cambion felt Rosie tremble for a moment, then shiver and take a shaky breath that almost turned into a sob. It was weird just how fragile someone could be, demon or not. Evelinde had never thought Rosie to be in such a state. And after all Rosie did for her? For her family? For Carlos and his own? This was the least she could do. And she wanted to help.

Evelinde hugged Rosie's side. The older woman finally leaned on her. This was a promise. A promise that, despite what happened in the past, the future would be much better. Both knew it wasn't going to be that easy, of course it wasn't. Cannibals were very territorial beings. These were words and sentiments that would take time to develop into something else. It would be rocky, and Evelinde would soon discover it was going to make things strange, perhaps uncomfortable, around Rosie, that was true. But it was a start.

This was a story similar to what Rosie had lived before. But that was the key part that Evelinde hoped Rosie understood. It was just similar.

Similar, not the same.