Project Viper: General Cleanliness (FF9 Maid tf) (Patreon)

Hi folks! This weeks story is a commission that asked for a new Project Viper tale - I'm enjoying how popular this series has been, they're fun to write! And there's so much leeway on what counts as a 'villain'~

Enjoy!

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Operation Log 34ff95

Time Period: The Alexandrian War

Target(s): General Beatrix

Team: CLEAN SWEEP

Operative: Agent Juliet

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In Burmecia, the rains poured down. Magic flared along the lines, stragglers being put down by the mage forces that the Queen’s mysterious new ally had provided. The battle was over – the city was lost. And beneath the weeping heavens, the Alexandrian general with one eye watched with a cold face, her stone expression concealing a troubled heart.

Loyalty to the Queen was paramount, and her duty was clear. Any enemy of Alexandria was to be utterly eliminated. That was obvious. And yet…

There was a flash in the sky – another fireball crashing against some crumbling bulwark that still tried to hold against the invaders. Beatrix’s eye lingered on the position for a moment, calculating whether or not she should involve herself in whatever battle was taking place, before deciding against it. Her place today was at her Queen’s side. She was already as far from that position now as she dared get, checking the route ahead so that Queen Brahne could travel through the area, as she – despite her General’s protests – demanded she get to do. A warzone was no place for a Queen, but those were her orders.

Yes… Her orders. Just like this entire battle. Such was a knight’s duty. Thinking anything of it beyond that truth was a waste of time. She was a General, not a bleeding-heart fresh recruit.

Resolve firmed, the brown-haired woman turned, her white cloak catching the wind and fluttering behind her for a moment before settling under the rain’s weight. She’d seen enough. It was time to return to the Queen’s side.

“Oho,” said a voice from her right. “And here I thought you might be feeling a touch of guilt for a second there. Ah, more fool me.”

Beatrix turned – not spinning like some panicked novice, but shifting in one single sharp motion to face the source of those words, hand falling on the hilt of her sword. Had she been found by a survivor of the attack? If so, she could deal with them now. But… No. No, that wasn’t it – she knew it in an instant. Before her stood not a soldier, nor a citizen of Burmecia.

It was a woman. One garbed in the strangest kind of clothing the General had ever seen on the battlefield. She appeared to be wearing a dark blue dress, one that flowed around her legs like a ball gown, and yet clung to her figure like no fabric Beatrix knew. The sides were cut away, revealing long bare legs and sharp cyan blue heels that honestly should have instantly tipped their wearer onto the floor. The chest region was even less protected, somehow, the cleavage line plunging into a well fed valley, held up by little more than a pair of navy straps that slid around the woman’s shoulders and little else, leaving her arms completely bare – capped off with a small circlet around her neck, a choker, perhaps, that was blue and patterned with what seemed to be a golden snake, it’s fangs forming the clasp at the base of her throat. Long blonde hair fell around her collar, shaped into drills, and red eyes gazed at the General with amusement.

The fashion was nothing like anything Beatrix had ever seen in Burmecia – or anywhere else, for that matter – but it wouldn’t look out of place in some high society event. Here in the ruins of a nation, among the still burning fires and distant sounds of battle, it looked so out of place that the General half expected her to fade out of existence in a flash of logic, like a ghost realising they no longer belonged.

But naturally, that didn’t happen, and instead the mystery woman smirked. “What’s the matter, Dear? You look confused. Is the cold getting to you? You shouldn’t spend all this time out in the rain, it’s quite unhealthy for you. It might spoil that lovely complexion.”

Beatrix snorted. “My only confusion is about your presence. Who are you? You’re not one of my forces, nor are you any Burmecian, I’d say. What business do you have here?”

Obviously, anyone who wandered this deep into a battlefield deserved whatever they got – but the Alexandrian couldn’t help but be just a touch curious about who this person was. Their answer might determine whether she cut them down without mercy or left them in the dirt with their lives intact.

The woman smiled. “You want my name? You will call me Lady Juliet. And as for my business, why, obviously my business is you, General. Why would I bother to introduce myself if it were otherwise?”

“Business with me?” Beatrix raised an eyebrow – the only visible one, thanks to her eyepatch. “What business would that be? And how did you know to find me here?”

There were no good answers to those questions. It was looking more and more like she would be defaulting to ‘no mercy’. She kept her expression calm, but her hand tightened on the hilt of her blade.

And if that worried Lady Juliet at all, the woman didn’t show it. Instead the woman calmly stepped down the path, her heeled feet somehow finding purchase on the crumbled stone again and again. “Oh, finding you was easy enough. The great Alexandrian invasion of Burmecia, where else would the infamous General of Alexandria be? It was more difficult to pick the right time period to come for you in. Too soon and history would just replace you with someone else. Too late and the damage would already be done.” She was circling Beatrix now, casually walking around the battlefield. Her red eyes flicked out towards the ruins around them for a moment. “Damage like this, in fact. But sadly, removing you before now wouldn’t have changed this city’s fate.”

The General’s sword slid free. “You intend to ‘remove me’, then?” She asked, her voice steady. She wasn’t worried in the slightest – her reputation as the greatest swordswoman in the world was well earned. “I think you’ll find that easier said than done. I’m not the type to die easily.”

“Who said anything about dying?” The woman stopped, pulling a black fan from her pocket and waving it lazily in the air. The light smattering of rain danced over its folds. “What a waste that would be! A pretty woman like you would make a wonderful servant – though, of course, we’ll have to do something about that nasty scar. Can’t have a maid with no depth perception, that- Oh!”

She darted backwards and to the side, sliding through the damp air with a speed that would have impressed any athlete – and a good thing she did, as Beatrix’s blade plunged through the space her chest had occupied a mere moment before.

“Touchy touchy,” the woman laughed. “Do you not like to talk about your eye? So sorry, Dear, I don’t mean to be rude, but I really will need to fix it. How on earth did a marvel like you get that, anyway? I mean, I don’t usually give villains like you compliments, but my word, you’re destined to get through this entire war practically unscarred! Basically undefeated – what a ludicrous idea. And yet there you are. Well, I suppose I should say you were destined, before I showed up.”

Beatrix frowned. That had been a half-way decent dodge. Perhaps this would be a bit more interesting than it had first seemed. “My destiny is none of your concern. Nor is my scar.” There was just a touch of heat to those words – it was a sensitive subject, one she didn’t especially like to be reminded of. “But you seem to have some idea of the person you’re facing. If you’re smart, you’ll give up now.”

But Juliet was obviously not the type of person who would, or perhaps even could, take that advice. Instead she leaned in, her arms folded behind her back, an impish smile on her face. “Was it really that big lumbering oaf of a man? How on earth did you let that happen?” She dodged sideways again, narrowly missing getting a very short haircut. “Did you have a little crush? Oh dear. Well that ended badly, didn’t it?” Another swipe, another dodge. “Don’t worry, General – I’ll make sure to fix your taste in men when I fix the rest of you. In fact, maybe I’ll just get rid of it all together. Women can be so much more… understanding. Far fewer swords in eyes.”

“ENOUGH!” That touch of heat had been brought up to full boil. Beatrix’s fury was palpable – even the rain might have avoided falling on her lest it be instantly evaporated. “I will not tolerate this humiliation. If you wish to die so badly, I can most certainly oblige you!”

“Ah.” Juliet giggled. “Did I touch a nerve?”

Beatrix’s sword slashed through the woman in an instant, all pretence and calm forgotten. There would be no dodging such a strike.

And indeed there was not. Instead, Juliet simply took it without blinking, the blade stopped short against her dress. Where the fabric should have cut, it simply did not. There wasn’t even a hint of a ruffle or a tear.

“What?” The General stared, eye flicking between the woman and her blade. She knew how sharp her sword was – it was enchanted with the finest magics. That attack should have cut this woman in half. And yet, somehow…?

“Impressive.” Juliet actually had the gall to start clapping. “You actually managed to hit me! You really are magnificent, you know that General?” She smirked. “I’m going to enjoy having you serve me.”

Beatrix took a breath. She’d lost her cool. How embarrassing. No wonder she was getting embarrassed like this. “That will never happen,” she said plainly, raising her blade and starting to circle her opponent. “Your armour is impressively enchanted. But I do not think it will protect you if I aim for your head.”

“Ah.” The woman chuckled, brushing a little dust off her shoulder. “Please don’t – this is a rather difficult hairstyle to maintain without-”

“Hah!” The time for courtesy and banter was over. The General struck once, a pure, simple slice that could do nothing but sever this arrogant woman’s head from her neck. She’d already assessed their capability, and while it was greater than it appeared, it wasn’t enough to escape death this time.

And yet, once more, she did. The strike never landed. Sharp metal never drew so much as a drop of blood from her exposed flesh. But it wasn’t because of her own skill. No, someone had interceded on her behalf.

A new woman stood between the two, an unexpected figure who’d parried Beatrix’s sword expertly… And had done so with a most unexpected weapon – a feather duster.

The General’s eye widened as she fell back a step, quickly trying to take a measure of this new complication. For the second time today someone had successful snuck up on her – she was not about to underestimate them. But even keeping that in mind…

Well, this wasn’t what she’d expected. The woman was of medium height, possessing nothing in the way of muscles or bulk. Indeed, it would be fairer to say any bulk she held had gravitated to either her chest or her hips, and nowhere else. This much was clear – very clear – because the outfit she wore hid absolutely nothing. Unlike the strangely resilient evening dress which Juliet wore, which was designed to be part seductive and part extravagant, this woman was dressed in something that emphasised their body in the most sexual way possible. Her cleavage bulged over the top of a very tight black blouse, while her behind was practically on full display beneath her skirt that was so short it may as well have been a shoelace. White lace cuffed her wrists, neck, and head, while dark stockings dipped down over her legs, ending in sheer black heels. The frilly white apron was, almost literally, the bow that tied the whole thing together.

Beatrix had seen her share of maids while working with royalty, but she’d never seen one dressed so carnally – nor had she ever seen one take to the battlefield. Just the sight left her with the vague feeling she was being mocked.

“Thank you, Cera.” Juliet stepped away, out from behind her… maid? “I do believe the General might have actually hurt me with that one. I suppose that’s what I get for playing around…”

“Of course, Mistress.” The Maid nodded slightly, her eyes never leaving her opponent. “Shall I deal with her now?”

Beatrix’s eye narrowed. “You think it will be that easy?” She had had enough of being dismissed like this. She was one of the greatest warriors on the planet. How dare they take her so lightly!

And to her surprise, Juliet seemed to agree. “She has a point,” the woman said with a shrug. “Let’s get serious here. Girls! Come on out.” She snapped her fingers.

There was a flutter of motion and the sound of moving feet. In an instant the rainy battlefield went from empty to full as dozens of women dressed like Cera appeared as if from nowhere. Beatrix was entirely surrounded. How embarrassing.

“Is that all?” Of course, she was still General Beatrix. “I count only thirty-five of you. Perhaps you have some more hidden on you somewhere – though I couldn’t say where, given that you’ve all chosen to dress as harlots.” Her grin was fierce. Despite how irritating this encounter had become, she couldn’t deny that she relished the chance to have a proper fight. “If you do, I advise you bring them out. I once killed a hundred knights single-handedly. To me, you fools are little more than insects.”

Juliet clapped her hands, looking entirely smitten. “Oh, wonderful. There’s that vicious villain energy I love to see. It’s almost a shame that I’ll have to snuff it out~” Her smile was just as vicious. “But I think having you as my newest pet will make up for the loss. Girls? Take her down.”

The maids moved as one, closing in on their target almost instantly, their dusters raised.

Almost wasn’t enough when dealing with the greatest swordswoman in the world. The General’s weapon whirled, swinging out in a wide circle, parrying the first wave of ridiculous weapons away and driving up a ring of dust around her, concealing her from view and allowing her to leap out of their circle, blurring over their heads and dropping down behind the group to land lightly on her feet, unharmed. “Is that all you have?”

“Oh~” Juliet’s eyes darted around the field before finding the General and locking on. “Be still my heart! I really must have you…” She looked like she was panting – it was really quite concerning. “And no, that’s not all.”

Beatrix frowned. No, this wasn’t right. She could feel it, her sense of the battle warning her that something was amiss. It was like a discordant note in a symphony – her trained ear was trying to pinpoint the source of the problem, the instrument out of sync. It was… Her sword?

Eye widening, she jumped backwards, denying her opponent another chance at her, and looked at her blade. It had developed a strange sheen – as though it had just been cleaned and polished, despite the day she’d spent using it on the battlefield. In fact, she had never seen it look so… so fine. It looked brand new, as though it had only just been forged. It was impossible.

But not as impossible as what followed. As she watched, the metal warped, twisting around itself as though it was possessed. The lengthy sharp blade shrank and curled inwards, losing its edge entirely and turning into little more than a long thin cylinder, one that seemed to be made of… wood? And the same was happening to the handle, the hilt melting away until all that was left was a single shaft – one that suddenly sprouted a full coating of fur where the edge had been, puffing up before her very eye.

In a matter of moments, Save the Queen, her truest weapon, had turned into a feather duster. She stared at it, her jaw slack, for once completely stunned. “H-how?”

“Oh dearest General…” Juliet was fanning herself, one of her maids kneeling beneath her so she could sit down. “You truly are amazing, don’t get me wrong. You might be the greatest warrior in this world - except for the heroes, probably, you know how they tend to work – but your world is still mostly magic and swords, with a few bits of steam bolted on in places. I doubt you people have even dreamed of some of the kinds of technologies that are out there.” She leaned forward, winking. “Don’t feel bad for losing – it’s hardly your fault that you’ve never heard of nanites.”

“What?” Her hand was tingling. Frowning, Beatrix tried to drop her former sword – ordinarily she’d never have considered dropping her weapon, of course – but her fingers refused to loosen their grip. And as she watched, her armoured gauntlet disappeared, shimmering for a moment before melting away, as if it were water boiling into the atmosphere, leaving nothing but a white lace cuff wrapped around her wrist. “What kind of curse is this?!”

“Hm… A curse? I suppose you could think about it like that, sure…” Juliet giggled. “Well in that case, it’s the kind of curse that’s going to turn you into a cute little maid, given enough time… But I’m afraid I’m rather impatient now, so, Girls? Finish the job.”

The maids swarmed, not giving the General any chance to dwell on the information she’d just been given. And without her blade, the balance of power on the field had shifted dramatically. Beatrix was still skilled, still a strong opponent… but the worrying tingle making its way up her arm was distracting, and she was nowhere near as experienced at fighting with a duster as her opponents. She stumbled, and felt a feathery soft blow swipe up the inside of her right thigh, erasing her red leggings and replacing them with black nylon. A parry fell short, and a swipe across her middle turned her belt into a ‘skirt’, the sudden cold draft informing her that her underwear had likewise vanished. A thrust into her chest that she failed to block not only knocked her backwards onto the ground, but it also reshaped her white jacket into a black blouse, which hung loose for a moment before she felt a sudden surge of tingles in her chest, and found her front suddenly pumping up so much she might have lost her balance had she not already been on her ass.

That last one made her eye widen, and she couldn’t help but look down at herself in shock as the tingles spread over her entire body, steadily converting her uniform as the proud leader of the Alexandrian army into a tight fitting, barely concealing maid’s uniform – and turning her body into some strange sultry parody of itself, draining away her muscles and expanding her breasts and behind until she could easily compete with any of the maids around her. Indeed, as the tingles faded, she realised that she didn’t recognise anything of her body below the neck – from her now low-cut top to her new black spiked heels, the ‘curse’ had changed everything.

Her moment of stunned hesitation cost her. Before she could recover, maids had descended upon her once again, wrapping around her arms and legs with their surprisingly strong hands, restraining her and holding her in place. She couldn’t move – she was captured.

“Good work~” Juliet giggled, strutting over to her fallen opponent and petting each maid she passed in turn. Each one cooed in delight, and Beatrix could feel them shudder against her as the woman passed. Finally, she knelt down next to the pinned knight, her smirk so wide Beatrix felt that her head should have fallen off. “And now, my dear General, it’s time we finish this.”

The knight glared with her one good eye. “Do as you please,” she growled. “Execute me if you must. I care not. But don’t think this changes anything – I serve Alexandria and the throne. I will never obey you, no matter what insulting costumes you curse me to wear.”

“Do as I please? I rather think I shall.” The strange noblewoman with drills in her hair reached down and gently reached for… !!! Beatrix tried to pull away, but there was nowhere she could move. Helplessly, she was forced to lay back as Juliet pulled her eyepatch away, revealing her scar to the world. “Oh my. Yes, I’ll have to do something about this…”

The General scowled and ignored her. This experience had been humiliating enough – did they really have to mock her so? But that was the price of defeat – such was the life of a knight. She’d just have to close her eye and endure it. Perhaps, if this went on long enough, she might be rescued. Hopefully her disappearance would at least warn the Queen that this place wasn’t safe. She would still have to deal with her humiliating loss, but… Wait, what was this woman doing?

She felt something cold and slick being brushed over her wounded eye. Blinking, she opened the other to look, and saw Juliet carefully applying some sort of odd grey cream to her face. The woman looked rather focused on the task, though whatever she was up to didn’t take her long. “There. How does that feel?”

… Obviously, Beatrix had no reason to answer her. But privately, she could acknowledge that it felt… tingly. The same kind of tingly that she had felt when her hand her betrayed her, and when her uniform had been twisted into this vile mockery of servitude. Only now it was in her head. She started to panic. Just a little. It felt justified. “Wh-what are you doing to me?!”

“Fixing things. Just give it a moment. Calm down, dear, I’m not trying to hurt you.” Juliet patted her in a manner that she might of thought was reassuring. “Just relax, it won’t take l- ah, there we go.”

The tingling faded. Beatrix blinked again, and something was different. Had she moved? Suddenly she could see the other maids who were wrapped around her. Or was it… wait.

She blinked again.

And a third time.

She closed her good eye.

The other, the one she hadn’t seen a scrap of light through since she was seventeen years old, roamed around and drank in the world.

“You… You restored my eye?” The General couldn’t believe it. Every ounce of humiliation and anger was washed away in a single moment of incomprehensible awe.

“And healed the scar,” Juliet crowed proudly. “Medical nanites are a wonder, aren’t they?”

Beatrix didn’t know what to say. “I… I don’t understand. Wh- why would you do this?”

The noblewoman shrugged. “Eh. The visor is only half as effective on one eye.”

Huh? “What viso-“

Something slammed down over the General’s face and the world went dark. Pinpricks of light danced in front of her restored vision, all colours of the rainbow flickering before her. Her head jerked, and she tried to shake whatever device they’d put on her loose, but it was stuck tight.

Then those pinpricks of light bloomed into life, expanding into wavy circles of light that circled and swam through each other like ripples on the surface of a pond, and her struggles slowed. There was something oddly captivating about the sight, something… calming. It was a display unlike any she’d ever seen before, red fading to orange fading to yellow fading to green…

Why not just watch the pretty colours…?

Her struggles started the slacken. The tension in her limbs began to relax, accompanied by giggling coos and gentle strokes from the maids that held her. Slowly, her lips parted, her mouth hanging ever so slightly open, as the endless swirl, the cacophony of colours, filled her world, flooded her mind, and pushed everything else aside.

Unprepared and already on the backfoot after the shock of her eye being restored, Beatrix’s mental defences buckled. The colours spinning before her eyes grew brighter, faster, and her hungry fresh vision drank it all in, drank and drank and drank until everything else was drowned out. Hypnotic patterns danced from one synapse to the next inside her head, stoking up every good impulse, every joyful desire that delighted in their presence, and snuffing out every attempt at resistance, every stuttering attempt to push back.

The colours spun and danced and swelled, and carried the entranced General’s mind off, flowing it down a rainbow river into oblivion. Her thoughts fell silent. Her worries disappeared. Her confusion vanished. Her head was empty. Hollow. Mindless. The words echoed, bouncing around inside her empty skull, commands emerging from the bright morass, obeyed without complaint. Others soon followed.

Forget who you were.

Forget your desires.

Forget your pride.

Forget Everything.

Words sank into her empty mind, commands delivered in tandem, hacking away at her history, at her very identity, dissolving her past, erasing her present. She didn’t know where they came from, if she heard them or saw them, didn’t even think to try to understand – merely accepting every word as gospel truth. Under the bright guidance of the light, her past was bleached away, forgotten, dismissed. General Beatrix’s self-image crumbled like weathered stone, its base undermined, its limbs feeble and broken. Her life as a knight grew hazy, details dripping away, fading out like colour under the sun. She forgot battles. Names. Places. She forgot honour. Pride. Loyalty. Her titles flickered and then vanished. She forgot the name of her nation.

The General sighed pleasantly, relaxing completely, as she forgot herself, her name sliding out of her head on her breath and disappearing into the wind.

And the colours were not done. The hues shifted, becoming richer, sharper, as the words flowing into her brain changed.

You are Lady Juliet’s Maid.

You wish only to please her.

You will obey anything she asks.

Nameless, thoughtless, she watched, ignorant as her limbs were released, feeling nothing as she was gently pulled to rest her head in her captor’s lap. New thoughts entered her head, shaping the shapeless, formless thing that she had become. Slowly, steadily, a new self-image began to grow. One of a pretty brown haired Maid, demure and soft, obedient to a fault, with no desire in her heart other than the bliss of her Lady…

You are her Maid.

You are her Maid.

You are her Maid.

The words reached a final beat. The colours spun faster than ever. The truth pulsed, beating itself into her head, her mind, her very soul, so deep that she could never even think to question it, so deep that it formed the very foundation of her being…

You are her Maid.

You are her Maid.

You are her Maid.

She was her Maid. She was Lady Juliet’s Maid. She would serve and obey and follow her forever, for all of time…

You are her Maid.

You are her Maid.

You are her Maid.

“I am her Maid…” The Maid whispered, her eyes still empty, her mind still quiet. The words thrummed through her so loudly that her tongue couldn’t help but echo them. “I am her Maid…”

And then the colours were gone. The visor was lifted away, and the dark rainclouds above greeted innocent purple eyes. The Maid blinked.

And then she saw the only person who mattered in the entire world. “Mistress!”

Lady Juliet smiled down at the Maid in her lap. “Hello there Dear. Did you have a nice rest?”

Blushing, the Maid realised exactly where she was. Looking around, she could see her sister maids looking at her with a mix of jealousy and joy. To think a humble maid such as she could ever get such attention from such a glorious woman! “I… I did indeed Mistress,” she answered demurely, suddenly filled with a desire to serve this goddess in human form – but also not wanting to leave this wonderful place that she’d found herself. “I hope I didn’t put you to too much trouble…”

But Lady Juliet just laughed and waved her off. “Oh, far from it. I enjoyed this little outing – though I suppose you won’t remember that. Ah well. Now that you’re with me, Alexandria should think twice about pushing its warlike agenda… And even if it doesn’t, it’ll still be weaker for it…”

The Maid blinked, confused. Lady Juliet wasn’t making any sense. What did these strange words mean? But it wasn’t her place to question – just to obey. “I’m glad then. Is there anything else I can do for you, my Lady?”

Juliet smiled. “I can think of a few things, Dear. Once we get back to my quarters I’m definitely going to want to put you through your paces… But for now, up we get.” She lifted the Maid to her feet, while getting up herself – with assistance from her other maids, of course. “And I’d best name you before I forget. Can’t just go around calling you ‘Maid’, that would get very confusing. How does ‘Bea’ sound?”

Bea smiled. A name from her Mistress? She couldn’t think of a higher honour. She’d treasure it always. “Wonderful, my Lady.”

“Perfect.” Juliet nodded to herself. “Come on then, everyone. Back to the portal. The weather’s miserable here, and I have a new toy I want to play with. Hup hup, on the double.”

With a wave and a point, the Lady soon had her servants marching, the newest of their number blending in perfectly amongst the crowd. Bea wasn’t sure what this ‘portal’ was, or where home would be, but so long as her Lady Ordered it, she would obey.

Behind them, the cold rains still fell upon Burmecia, and flashes of light still marked battles and horrors as the Alexandrian army completed its conquest – not yet knowing that they had lost their General. In the coming days, many searches and investigations would take place… But no one would ever know what had become of General Beatrix.

Not even the woman herself.