Angelisse was having the worst day imaginable. And it was all because of that stupid little monster ying on the table, the one she had to watch over until it finally stopped breathing and she could get rid of it.

  But the stupid thing wouldn't even die properly. She hated it. She hated it so much that it burned in her like a fire, and the fire kept her body moving, gave her warmth on the coldest and most miserable nights. She'd kept that hate nice and close, she'd set up the trap and had that other witch execute it - that dead-eyed one who'd run off with her toys - and then when she finally had her prize in hand...

  It didn't satisfy her at all.

  Not even a little.

  Well - she thought it had, in the beginning. It felt good to reach back and sp it, to put a bright red mark on its stupid smirking face. It felt good to ball up her fist and put all her frustration into it, everything she'd been holding back all this time - the ruined marriage, the ruined family, the ruined life, everything that came crashing down because of this- this- this-!

  But all she got was one good punch and the thing just wilted. Just - just pathetic. Miserable. Worthless. How was she supposed to work out any of these feelings when it didn't even fight back, when it didn't scream at her, or threaten, or beg for its life? All it did was cry and mumble and moan.

  Even the other punches she'd thrown didn't help her feel any better. Nothing was helping, even when she spat mean words at it when it talked. So she stopped, eventually, and just... sat, and waited.

  She wouldn't have to wait much longer. It didn't have that much time left, surely.

  The cell door smmed open, scaring the crap out of her as she sprang up, back to the wall. "Who-" was all she got out before a Man was suddenly There. No walking in, hardly even a blur of motion, just, blink and you'd miss it kind of speed. She must have been distracted by the door and missed seeing the trick of it - there had to be a trick, no one could move like that. And now he was pinning her to the wall with a single arm like he was holding a door open for his betters.

  Who do you think you are, you little shit?! she wanted to scream. But he'd knocked the breath out of her with that one move, and she couldn't even struggle properly with her arms and stomach pinned to the wall like this, neat as a butterfly in one of her dispy cases. His arm could've been made of metal for all it yielded.

  The man said something her furious mind didn't quite process, but the words weren't meant for her anyway so she didn't care. In strolled two women, casual as could be, like they owned the pce, her pce. The monster's little commoner toy, and... that other one. The one that had been hanging around them suddenly, wherever she'd come from. It didn't matter.

  She got a little spike of satisfaction from seeing the horror on the toy's face when she saw her precious monster ying there and barely hanging onto life - but it only sted an instant. The toy was a commoner, after all, what did she care for a commoner's thoughts? Nothing, that's what. It didn't matter, it didn't satisfy. None of this felt good.

  It was all wrong. Even her revenge was ruined, in the end. The stupid little monster couldn't even give her that.

  "Pull it together, Fern," she heard the other one say. "You've still got the supplies, yeah?"

  Fern. Her parents named her after a pnt. What a stupid name for a stupid little commoner, as pathetic as the monster she worshipped. She watched disinterestedly as the commoner got her stupid little medical supplies out - potions, a kit of some sort. It didn't matter. None of it would do anything with the restraining bands still starving the monster of its aether, blocking any sort of flow in or out.

  The commoner put a weird little dark gem on the monster's chest. "It's not helping like I hoped," she said after a moment. "I think these cuffs on her are doing something more than just keeping her bound."

  "Fuck. Think you can deal with 'em?"

  "Dunno. I'll give it a shot."

  Angelisse smirked as the stupid commoner pointed one hand at her stupid monster and raised the other to start gesturing. It was all pointless, of course. The Peacebuild family technique for binding the dark creatures of this world couldn't be so easily defeated, especially not by a fallen hero of all people. The very idea was ludicrous! No wielder of the dark stood a chance against the complicated yers of-

  Click.

  Her jaw dropped at the unmistakable noise of one of the bands of light releasing, without her express consent. "Ey, nice job," the other woman said, the commoner still just focusing intently and gesturing with little movements of her fingertips. How? How?! How had some miserable little common girl with the wrong sigil on her stupid hand just walked up and- and-

  She could feel herself start to shake with fury behind the immovable arm still pinning her. The very st chance for things to go right, for this stupid little monster to just die quietly, and she had to watch it be ruined right before her eyes once again. Just like everything else had been ruined, with her unable to even lift a finger to stop it from happening.

  It was already the worst day of her miserable life. And somehow, it had gotten even worse.

  Click. Click. Click.

  "It's the least I can do. Or I guess, the only thing I can do," the commoner finally responded, a little bitterness in her voice. Nothing like what Angelisse dealt with every day, of course. "You two did all the other work already."

  "Hey - it's gonna be okay. No one's bming you."

  She paused, her lips a thin, hard line. For a moment it looked like she was about to say something in reply, but she just twisted her wrists instead, almost angrily.

  Click.

  The gem on the monster's chest went from dark to crystal clear the very same instant the final restraint came undone, all of its stored aether swallowed up, devoured by the stupid little thing with a hunger she could feel, even without any sensory skills active. Gods! She had been so close to being rid of it for good! And now it was all crashing down around her, just like before.

  The monster gasped a breath, shuddering, and the stupid little commoner just put her hand on its cheek and held it tenderly, wordlessly, just letting the aether start working without disturbing it.

  "Disgusting," Angelisse finally growled from the wall, unable to stop herself. Not that she particurly wanted to. If she was going to die anyway, the least she could do was let these miserable, pathetic creatures know how much she hated them with every fiber of her being.

  "I don't remember asking the chief torturer for her opinions on the matter," the one who wasn't Fern said, gaze snapping over to look at her. There was something cold in those golden eyes that would have stopped a lesser woman. But she was Angelisse Peacebuild, damn it, not some craven commoner.

  "I'm not-"

  "You are," she interrupted, ftly, with an air of Authority that completely shut her down for a moment. "Not a single one of the guards or other personnel we neutralized on the way here had bare hands; all wore gloves. And here you are, not only without any, but wearing a set of fresh abrasions on your knuckles that match the bare-handed bruises on the Lady Direfrost. You've been hard at work today, chief torturer."

  She ground her teeth together. Despite her arrogance, she was sharp. "My name is Angelisse Peacebuild, you-"

  The woman snorted, throwing her off again. "Peacebuild? Peace-build? Fuck me, what an awful name you got. Is that the best you could do? Fine name for a torturer and kidnapper I guess, if that's how they do it over here."

  Fern looked up from the sb. "Ember, the Peacebuilds are an old and powerful house. They've conquered enough holdings to put them among the very top css of the aristocracy; even I know that much. You shouldn't take her lightly."

  Ember - apparently that was her name - gnced over briefly. "Yeah? Well they should've conquered a better fuckin' name than that garbage, don't you think?"

  "And what sort of name is 'Ember' supposed to be?" she spat, not even expecting an answer.

  But once again her expectations were upset. "The sort of name you choose for yourself," the woman returned coolly, but there was a faint smile on her face. "One that actually means something, because you crafted it on your own." The smile faded into steel. "Not that I'd expect a noble brat to understand the concept."

  "I-"

  "Quiet." How? How was she doing that? Shutting down even her thoughts with a single word? "You've been pying with some dangerous toys. Where are they? Where's your- ah fuck, what would they even call a drone operator over here..."

  "Oh, that witch?" There was no love lost between the two of them, that much was for certain. "She decided to run off with her little flying demons the moment I told her I... couldn't afford to pay her any more." The st part came out a bit more quietly, with less fire to it.

  Ember's eyes never left her. "Not the type to inspire loyalty, are you? Guess that would expin why your guards didn't seem particurly alert or interested when we came in. Easy prey, every st one of them. Bernie could've taken them all by himself if I wasn't getting so bored."

  "Appreciate the assistance anyway, Miz Grace," the man pinning her to the wall added lightly.

  "You're welcome," she returned with a little sly grin, before shifting her attention back up to the noble. "But more to the point - you really don't have anything besides your name, do you? If I was filthy rich I sure as fuck wouldn't spend my time in a lightless hole like this, especially not to beat the shit out of a defenseless prisoner. Even as brutal as life gets in the west, we have rules against crimes like that. For all the good they do sometimes," she added, darkly.

  "I had everything I needed!" Angelisse hissed, trying to fight off the feeling of being skewered by those words. "Until that thing ruined it all!"

  "Really?" Ember stood up and turned to face her, arms crossing. "Do tell."

  Finally, someone who would listen to her, like she deserved. "I was going to marry an imperial prince, a marriage which would have permanently cemented my future in all the glory it deserves. We were already engaged - and I had to defy my own family to do it! They cut me off for that, and all I had left was my own holdings - my nd, my servants, the fortune I earned! But I didn't need them, because the marriage was going to be the key to everything, to a world where I didn't need any of their meddling in my life!" She took a deep breath. "And then this- this monster comes along in the night, and stabs the prince with some cursed dagger, and turns him into a woman!"

  Ember's eyes widened noticeably. "... Huh."

  "And since a woman can't be in the line of succession, all of my pns meant nothing any longer! All of it, gone in an instant! My perfect future, everything I'd sacrificed for - worthless! All because of that stupid little monster!"

  For a moment, the woman didn't respond. Then her eyes narrowed slightly. "And what of the woman that prince became? You didn't keep the engagement, I take it."

  "Of course not!" Angelisse spat. "Are you dull? Getting wed to someone with no real power? I broke it off as soon as I understood his fate. He means nothing to me without the trappings of his position, just like any other noble!"

  "Ah, I see now." Ember sighed quietly, the breath sinking out of her. "You really are irredeemable garbage."