Hate And Heresy

A week passed by with an increased amount of laziness. A few odd jobs were posted on the usual online boards, but Meek wasn't interested in work. The distracted blonde didn't go anywhere near the phone or the computer. One email had come from Hennessey Security and neither of the women had the d.e.s.i.r.e to read it.

Moya had spent most of her time reading and practicing cooking. Although she had expressed great skill in the culinary arts, she was far from a chef. Spirit uninjured, the masked woman continued to follow a new recipe each day. Meek had done a great amount of sleeping and eating. Having some of their food budget replenished by a completed job was a recurring thought for Moya.

"You ready to do anything yet?" Moya asked from the kitchen as she stared into a pot of simmering food. "Maybe after lunch?"

Meek was sitting on the couch, resting her head back over the top of it with her eyes closed. An earlier Moya would have loved to chop the lazy thing right in the exposed throat, but the days of rest had given her lots the think about. Most of which were unanswered questions.

"If we don't go do something you won't be able to buy alcohol next week," Moya warned her master.

"What is it that you want?" Meek asked.

"To not go broke taking care of you," Moya answered.

"No, I mean like, things," Meek clarified. "Possessions. Doesn't anything interest you? Besides a worthy sacrifice, and whatever the hell you're going to do with your blessed power?"

"Why do you ask?" Moya questioned. "Want to get me something for my birthday?"

"I've been thinking a lot," Meek said. "I don't… I don't have any goals or purpose. I buy shit but don't care about any of it. I feel useless."

"Then why ask what I want?" Moya replied. "If you're having a crisis, get up and do something about it. Thinking won't change anything."

Meek sprang up from the couch, only briefly rubbing her neck from the awkward position.

"All right then," she said. "Let's-"

A banging on the front door silenced the room. Three loud strikes against the steel security door were familiar, but not enough to put the girls at ease until the voice came.

"Ladies, it's Earl," an old country man said through the door. "Open up. Need to talk to you two."

The video feed from the porch verified the claim. The tan and black uniform of the county sheriff filled the little screen next to the front door. With a button press to electronically undo the locks, Meek pulled the heavy door inward with a bit of effort.

"Hello there, Earl," Meek greeted the sheriff. "Everything all right?"

"Well, I'd like to think so," Earl replied. "But I need a statement first."

"A statement for what?" Moya asked, joining Meek at the entrance.

"Well, you know how that politician was coming to try and convince everyone to join in the system-wide government?" Earl asked. "Well, his visit didn't exactly go very smoothly. In fact, he was damn near killed. Some empty cars exploded at his public speech and some gunfire went off. Nobody died somehow, but uh, Hennessey Security is putting the blame on you two."

Meek and Moya were stunned at the statement and stayed silent, but their eyes told the sheriff it was news to them.

"Yeah, figured you two didn't watch television or stay with current affairs," the sheriff said. "Hennessey says you all must have some type of organization going with lots of people. Your photos are on the news as the prime suspects for the attack. You're wanted ladies."

"Well, that's no good," Moya said. "Does Hennessey have any evidence to backup the accusation?"

"He says you both attacked him recently," Earl replied. "Says you were trying to take control of the politician's security detail from the inside. But other than that, I don't know. I'm not on the case."

"Then why do you need a statement, if you aren't on the case?" Meek questioned.

"Well, as you know, the city-state of Kadence can't just come out here into Never County and do whatever the hell they want," Earl explained. "They wanted to be their own thing so they have to play by the rules. A county officer can take you two in and then they'd have to decide whether or not they wanted to work with Kadence on the case. I'm here because I trust you two well enough to know that this accusation is a bunch of bullshit."

"So, are we safe then?" Meek asked.

"Safe?" Earl said. "With a security firm like Hennessey out for you, probably not. But I have no intention of giving you to Kadence. They can bitch and m.o.a.n over email and telephone all they want. You two have done good around here and helped lots of folks. Ain't nobody going to turn you over. Do need to have a statement though, for the records."

Omitting the information pertaining to the attempt on Hennessey's life, Meek gave Earl a story about how they visited the city. She told him they had simply turned down an offer for work at the last moment and that it didn't seem to sit very well with Hennessey. It was a satisfactory tale to the sheriff and one he was expecting. With it recorded down on a notepad, Earl bid the ladies farewell after accepting a quick drink.

Making sure to lock the front door, Meek leaned against the steel with a groan of frustration. She had felt as if she were about to come to some sort of breakthrough, but current events were making things excessively complicated. A lot of their work came from Kadence.

"Well, I suppose we're just condemned to county work then," Moya said, going back to the pot on the stove. "This curry will be done soon."

Meek would have replied had something not caught her attention. Standing on the open second floor and looking down at the women, was Adella. A short woman of flowing blond hair and fair skin, she stood leaning over the guard of the second floor in a brilliant suit of white armor. Religious symbols of swirls and vines covered the protective plating in red and a long sword hovered just above her back, waiting to be grasped. Adella looked down and met eyes with Meek. The armored woman's toothy smile and wide eyes were all-too-familiar.

"I'm going to get some fresh air out back," Meek told Moya. "Go ahead and eat without me."

"All right," Moya replied. "Suit yourself."

Meek walked up the steps slowly, keeping an eye out for the armored woman. Adella had left the open second floor out the balcony window and could be seen standing with four other familiar faces in the grassy field behind the shop. Placing her thumb upon the handle of a c.h.e.s.t at the foot of her bed, the lid popped open and revealed a mostly-empty container. After slipping a white glove with a red star in the palm on her right hand, Meek jumped from the balcony to approach her company.

Five women of varying stature waited for Meek in matching armor. Faces, weapons, and height set them apart visually, but Meek also knew there would be differences in ability. The angry blonde had finally come to the day she had hoped to avoid.

"Finally, you did something big!" Adella said. "Once they put your photo on the news network we were able to find you so easily! Is your name Meek now? How strange!"

"We've come to take you home!" Lelifa stated, the tallest woman with long dark hair and a spear on her back. "You are to receive punishment for your abandonment of the cause and your insult to the queen!"

"F.u.c.k your stupid queen!" Meek replied.

"I'm sick of this heretic!" Suizu yelled, a woman of average stature, short red hair, and a long black sword. "She's wasted years of our precious time! There's no time for talk! The wicked must be beaten into understanding!"

"Suizu, no!" Lelifa warned, but she was not heard.

The angry Suizu charged forward with her sword ready and her war cry loud. She closed the gap across the field in seconds and tried to bring her black sword down upon Meek's defiant glare, but the blade was held. Raising her gloved hand, Meek put up her guard with a stout sword of only two feet in length that appeared from thin air. The blade was covered in loose black flakes that broke and fell when struck, and the handle was only that of cloth-wrapped steel with a basic guard. The sword was very unimpressive.

"How!" Suizu cried. "How did you come into possession of Dorothy's sword!"

"That's probably why the queen is so pissed off," Meek replied.

The unassuming sword grew bright with heat. Before the armored woman could back away, Meek's blade become engulfed in flame. It burned bright and the heat was so intense that it caused Suizu to cry out in pain and stagger away as she rubbed frantically to put out the burning of her hair. The armored woman's face had been burned, but Meek received no such damage.

"Really?" Meek said with a big smile. "This is really what the Seven Sisters of the Queen are like these days? What the f.u.c.k happened?"

"Sister Adella, who is this heretic we've been charged with capturing?" Corinth, a little woman of short black hair and twin axes asked. "May we please know now that we face her?"

Adella looked at her subordinate with the same crazed smile and gaze she had given to Meek.

"That, my dear, is Koi," Adella replied. "The last Red Knight of the Queen."