Non Serviam: Chapter 2 (Patreon)

This is a chapter of this story that was not originally posted on patreon. I am backposting it and several others now so that the complete story can be viewed on this site. To read the complete story, check the collection link below.

Chapter 2: In the Beginning

"You can stay here for as long as it takes you to adjust," Rias said.

Until I bowed my head and accepted her rule, she meant, but her expression was so perfectly regretful that I decided not to call her on it. Our relative stances on the 'truth' had changed only slightly in the past day and a half. I very much doubted another snide remark would make any difference.

Not that it would have stopped Lisa from running her mouth, I thought with a small smile.

At least my new room furnished. We were still on the carrot approach, if the red silk sheets and duvet were anything to go by.

"I was almost expecting you to stick me in the kennel," I said, glancing around. The Gremory mansion (located in 'hell' of course) was large enough to have a stable, so no doubt they had somewhere to put bad dogs.

"I couldn't possibly—!" Rias said. She reached out, gripping my hands. Behind her, Akeno gave me a menacing glare. Her violet eyes promised all kinds of pain if I pissed Rias off.

I was not on good terms with my 'owner's' staff.

"No matter what you think, Taylor, you're family to me now," Rias said. "I know this is hard for you, but I'll do my best to prove that this is all true, so that you can go back to living a happy life as soon as you can."

I gave a soft chuckle at that. A happy life? On some days…on bad days…I wondered when I'd last had such a 'happy life.'

"So, am I just staying in my room?" I asked. The windows had a strange glimmer to them that I could pick out if I squinted, Rias seemed to underestimate the power of my imagination, if nothing else. "If that's the case I might end up hanging myself in the closet just for something to do."

Rias pouted, here green eyes softening in a way that had me instinctively pulling back. "Taylor…" she stared, before pulling me into a hug.

I froze, a thousand instincts screaming to duck, to twist, to do anything to get myself out of the grasp of the Brute 3 that currently had me in a dead lock. But with my arms pinned to my sides, I was all but helpless, as she squeezed. Not hard enough to hurt, but hard enough that I knew it could.

And behind it all, Akeno had the gall to look amused.

Shove her in a locker full of pads and see how she—

I forced my eyes shut, counting backwards from a thousand until Rias finally released me. With forced calm, I took a step back.

"Please don't," I said. One…side effect of the healing process, was that so many things that I'd grown numb too were all to sharp and fresh in my mind. On one hand, it meant my sense of touch was back to normal, but on the other…

Well, by definition, Parahumans didn't get over their trigger event.

"I'm sorry, Taylor," Rias said. She pitched her voice softly, like she was talking to some kind of wounded animal. I guess I qualified. "And of course you're not confined to your room. I've reserved a whole wing of the mansion for you." She brightened at that. "It's even got a permanent summoning circle to my club room at school, so I can come and visit you often."

"Rias…" Akeno murmured sharply.

"What?" I asked. "Afraid you won't be there to cage me again if I just happen to wander in?"

"My, my," she replied, cupping her cheek "if you wanted to be disciplined so much, why didn't you just say so."

I spread my arms, even as sparks flickered across the tips of the other girl's fingers. "Go ahead then," I said blithely. "It's who you are, isn't it? The type of person who preys on the weak because they deserve it."

Her glare was as ugly as she was beautiful.

As her arm came up, I tensed to spring away. I could dodge, but the window behind me on the other hand.

"Akeno!" Rias's hand clamped down on her servant's wrist. "What are you doing?"

"Rias, she—!"

Rias forced Akeno's arm back to her side. "No matter what Taylor says, you are both my precious se—people and I won't have you hurting one another." She huffed. "Besides that, honestly Akeno, you weren't half as angry when we first rescued Kiba, and he tried to attack me more than once."

"Kiba didn't succeed," Akeno said. She crossed her arms beneath her bust, angling her stance in such a way that I knew she was mocking me. Though I suppose the glance out of the corner of her eye was a pretty big hint.

I raised my own hand, both girl's tensing as I pointed a finger at Akeno. "May your back ache each night and your bras always be half a size too small."

For a moment, Akeno only stared at me, gaping slightly at my 'counterattack.' I simply raised an eyebrow at her sputtering, even as Rias tried to cover a giggle in her hand.

Akeno turned, a betrayed expression on her face.

"It, it's just—" Rias managed, "you were threatening to blast her through the wall like an avenging angel and then…" Her words devolved back into tight little snorts, made all the worse for how she was trying to hold her laughter in.

Akeno rolled her eyes, looking away. I didn't bother to meet her gaze this time. She struck me as the type that couldn't bear to be ignored, especially after a slight. Not that my words had been any sort of masterful comeback, but I'd learned a thing or two from Lisa about making the most inane comments into cutting barbs.

I remembered my team in Chicago asking me to stop with the bug puns, after a while..

I made sure not to look back towards the window, at least, as Rias got her giggling fit back under control. Using one of them to blast a hole in the wall was a long shot in the first place; I'd shelve it for another time, after I had a chance to experiment more with the strange powers I'd been…given.

"I'm sorry Akeno," Rias said, wrapping her arm around the taller girl's. "You have to admit though, you did have the hardest time finding new lingerie before you started using my tailor."

Akeno let out a sigh, placing a palm against her cheek "Rias…"

"Oops, sorry, was that embarrassing?" Rias's smile made her real feelings clear.

I watched the byplay from the corner of my eye. Was she putting on a show for me, like a play on the classic good cop, bad cop? On one hand, it would make sense for Rias to use her little pets that way. I'd heard things from Alec about the games his father played with his.

But on the other hand, I thought I was a pretty good judge of character, and neither of them struck me as a particularly good actor.

"Well, come on then," Rias said after a moment. "We have to get back."

Akeno hummed. "I'd like to have a word with Taylor first…" she said, fluttering her eyelashes at me.

"Akeno…"

"Don't worry, I won't leave any marks," she said.

"None that you can see, anyway," I added, voice dry as the Sahara Desert.

Rias shot both of us a look. "Behave yourself."

Control you dog. But saying that would be an insult to Bitch. Instead, I just cocked an eyebrow, pointing at myself. Rias let out a huff, before giving Akeno another glance packed full of subtext I couldn't read yet and flouncing out of the room.

She was, I had to admit, a very good flouncer. Maybe it was a redhead thing.

The door shut behind her with a soft click.

Akeno stepped into my personal space. I'm sure she meant it to look intimidating, but really it just drove home how I had about five inches on her, for all that she had five inches on me from front to back.

"You," she said, "are the most unpleasant person Rias has ever saved."

"I suppose mirrors aren't big, in the underworld?"

She slapped me.

It was light, barely enough to twist my head to the side.

Light enough that her handprint would fade in seconds even with my pasty white skin. But the look in her eyes promised murder.

"I suppose that's just who you are," she said acerbically. "A rabid dog will always bite the hand that feeds them."

I allowed myself a wan smile. "When you graduate to original insults, let Rias know you're tired of wearing her hand-me-downs as well. They hang."

Maybe it was a cheap shot, but I'd picked out how defensive she was about her appearance. Not that Rias and Akeno had anything in the world to be upset about, but then, since when were the chinks in our armor rational?

Her face twisted, before smoothing out into an artificial calm. "I had a whole speech planned out, you know," she said, lightly. There was a smile on her face, the kind of empty expression I'd once seen Bonesaw make when she was looming over me, rotating saw buzzing cheerily in her too small hands. "But if I stay here any longer, I might hurt you, and that would make my King sad. So I'll just skip to the good parts yes?"

She leaned in again, meeting my eyes. "If you hurt Rias again, I will end you. If you lay a finger on her, I will make you suffer until the stars fall from the sky."

I tilted my head. Reaching out, I placed a single finger against the collar of her blouse. "Little girl," I said, "You don't even know the meaning of that word."

She must have seen something in my eyes, either good or bad, because a moment later she huffed and turned away. "She'd be sad if I killed you," Akeno said. "But she'd get over it."

This time, I let her have the last word, leaning back on one of the tables as she swept out of the room.

A bead of sweat trickled down my brow.

I wasn't being a bitch just because of the weight pressing down on me, no matter what it seemed like. Oh, the pressure of all my memories, all fresh and repackaged into my skull certainly made it easier, but there was a point to it all.

I was testing my limits, seeing how far I could push each of them, how much rope they were willing to spool out. Because enough rope to hang yourself with, was also usually enough to climb down from a window.

As long as you didn't mind the drop.

Maybe it wasn't smart to push Akeno so far. It felt like she had nearly as many skeletons in her closet as I did, but it was important to know exactly how long Rias's words would stay her hand.

And it was important to distract her as well.

With a grunt, I levered myself upright, more beads of sweat forming on my brow.

If she'd been paying attention, she'd have noticed the bug of my own 'magic' that I'd placed on her shirt, before it crawled up under her collar.

I stumbled across the room to the door, leaning my head against the wood as I tried to force my power to do what I wanted, reaching for all of those countless memories of when I'd controlled a million—a billion—more insects than this one.

And then the static in my head snapped into place.

"—understand why you keep taking the bait, Akeno." That was Rias. Her voice was quieter. If she moved to far away from my bug, I probably wouldn't be able to hear her at all. "It's obvious that she's just saying things to mess with you."

"My, my, you're too forgiving, prez. Worms need to be stepped on to remember their place."

I heard Rias laugh. "And you wonder why she doesn't like you."

"I…" Akeno paused. I heard the fabric of her clothing rustle as she shifted. "I don't care what she says about me, but being so mean to my King, even after you've bent over backwards for her? I can't stand it!"

"Are you sure it's not because she's not a cute little boy like Kiba?" Rias asked. "He was even more aggressive when we found him, swinging around his holy swords even though they burned in his hands." She paused. "Taylor's just a bit…prickly."

"Hmph." Akeno shifted again. "Kiba had a reason for behaving like that."

"I'm sure Taylor does to," Rias said. My eyes opened in surprise. "She fell out of a hole in the air, Akeno, with one arm burned off at the elbow and two bullets in her head. That doesn't just happen to people."

"…Still, she could be more civil."

I heard Rias sigh gently. "You shouldn't be so upset that she got the drop on me, Akeno. I was the one who sent you to get some spare clothes after all."

The black-haired girl's silence was reply enough.

"Honestly," Rias said. "I think everything that happened there was a good thing."

"A good thing? Prez, are you sure she didn't hit you in the head?"

"Mou, Akeno, I'm not that much of a ditz." I could practically hear the pout in her voice. "It's just that, she showed me that I need to work on my awareness some. Even with my power of destruction, if someone gets too close to me, things could be difficult."

"My, but isn't that what your big sister is always telling you?" Akeno tittered, the noise spiked the throbbing in my skull. The magic was slipping away from me as the two girls walked farther down the halls of the mansion.

"…Well yes, but Grayfia didn't almost throw me through a wall to demonstrate."

"So, you're saying you didn't listen."

"You don't have to be so mean…" Rias said. "But I think it says good things about Taylor as well."

Akeno didn't say anything to that.

"Think about it!" Rias continued. "She was smart enough to trick me, but even when she got the drop on me, she didn't try to finish the job, instead all she did was try to leave. Even if she had only figured out how to enhance her strength, if she decided to attack me instead… Well, I'm not very good at close quarters fighting." Rias sighed. "Just another thing to work on before I start doing rating games…"

There was another pause. "I'm sure Lady Grayfia will be more than happy to assist you with your training." I could hear the teasing lilt to Akeno's voice.

"That's what I'm afraid—"

I blinked as the connection suddenly cut out. The last thing I'd heard, other than the words, was something that could have been a door opening.

Perhaps they'd passed through some kind of barrier. Or else that was just the limit of my range, less than the size of a house.

With a huff, I let myself sink down to the ground.

My hair was damp with sweat. I swiped at it, angrily, pushing lanky strands out of my eyes. Beyond that, there was a headache pounding staccato at my temples, and every time I blinked it would reach down to scrape against the backs of my eyes like rusty knives.

All of this just from using my power to make a single bug—not even a bug, just a mass of concentrated energy on legs—to listen in on a conversation a few yards away. Utterly useless.

I dug my palms into my forehead.

Rias said that devil magic was based on imagination, which is how I'd faked a brute rating back when Rias and I were having tea. But she'd undersold it. Saying that I could manipulate this power with imagination was like saying you passed a test by imagining the correct answers.

Even though I'd spent years controlling bugs and listening through them, it took all of my concentration to keep that little black speck of energy coherent. If I'd spend any less time and energy immersed in my power, I probably wouldn't have been able to pull it off at all.

I hoped that Rias and Akeno hadn't noticed when my control had lapsed. The bug was meant to disperse silently, but...

Well, I was hardly a master of this new ability.

With a sigh, I pushed myself awkwardly to my feet. My headache wasn't really fading, but it was something I could handle. What was more difficult was the sudden exhaustions that seemed to radiate out from inside of me. I felt like I'd just finished the fight against Leviathan.

I managed to stagger over to the ensuite bathroom, yet another mark in Rias's favor. Under a blast of hot water, I went back over my situation once more.

I'd been skeptical of Rias, both her story and her intentions, at the start. For all that she didn't seem like a good actor, I still wasn't sure if I could trust her. I'd been burned by people I thought were my friends in the past, after all.

But her story, on the other hand, was proving remarkably consistent. Beyond just the batwings, the various powers that Rias had demonstrated, along with the reticent versatility of my own 'power'? They felt nothing like Scion's shards. Maybe I could buy that she was like Myrrdin, but Akeno too, and me?

The roaring hellscape we'd ridden the carriage through on the way to the Gremory estate had helped quell some of those doubts as well. Which made sense, if Rias was trying to prove that she really was a devil.

It had also…been a bit since I'd last had a hot shower.

Slowly, I relaxed my hand from where I'd braced it against the shower wall. If only the rest of me would follow suit so easily.

My thoughts ran in circles, as the water cascaded down my back, but I didn't make any headway on the problems currently facing me.

Not for the first time since I'd been healed, I wished I could somehow talk to Lisa. Even if she couldn't plan us a way out of this mess, if she were here, I'd know all the players at least. As it was, I was groping around in the dark, trying to figure out lies from truth when my captors controlled all access to new information.

Listless, I turned off the shower and dried myself, redressing in the same long-sleeved white shirt and jeans I'd been given as soon as we'd arrived at this Mansion. The closet, according to Rias, was well stocked, but I wasn't really feeling like it.

Or ever, when it came to clothes.

I snorted when I thought about how much more work I'd put into my Villain and Hero costumes than I'd ever spent on my normal wardrobe. Though, to be clear, it wasn't as if I'd ever had much of a civilian life even before my identity had been outed.

The room was silent as I exited the bath. Idly, I wrapped my hair in the towel as I walked over to the window. There was no latch, I noted, and the protective magic or whatever other defense it had was only more obvious up close. It probably also had something like bullet proof glass as well, just to add insult to injury if I ever bother to try to smash it.

Beyond there was an expansive garden of the Gremory estate, stretching as far as I could see from this second story window. Beyond that, I knew, Hell actually started to look the part, but at the moment it almost felt like I could be at a room Versailles.

Then a knock came to the door.

I stilled, before pulling the Towel off of my hair and tossing it on the bed. "Come in," I said.

The door opened to reveal a woman in a maid uniform. She slipped into the room with grace, door shutting silently behind her.

"Good afternoon, Miss Hebert," she said. Her voice was smooth and elegant, though her face betrayed only a perfunctory disinterest. "I am Grayfia, the head maid of this estate. It would be my pleasure to assist you should you have any need."

Grayfia? Wasn't that Rias's older sister, just going from the snippet of conversation that I'd overheard. I was immediately on guard.

For one thing, they looked nothing alike. Rias was redhaired, and looked soft and cuddly, while Grayfia's features were longer, more elegant. Her hair was silver-white to Rias's red, and her features were placid while Rias always seemed to wear her heart on her sleeve.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," I said. Perhaps this was an elaborate joke the devils were playing on me, but I couldn't see the point.

If this woman was Rias's older sister, and one that Rias spoke of with respect as well, then my behavior here could have far more consequences than I was comfortable with.

Grayfia sketched a brief curtsey at my reply, little more than a slight swish of her skirts. "Should you have need, please pull the bell rope by your bedside, and I or one of the other Maids will come to assist you," she said. "Now, I will give you a tour of the mansion."

The way she said it made it sound like anything but a question. For a moment, I was tempted to try testing her limits as well, as I had with Rias and Akeno, but I took one more look at her and gave it up as a bad job.

My two primary captors were still teenagers, and even if Rias was putting up a front, she still had her image of a caring master to maintain. This woman, on the other hand, was anything but a child.

"My thanks," I said, still eyeing the woman. "We can start whenever you'd like."

If Grayfia was annoyed by my stare, she didn't show it, instead remaining in the perfect poise of a maid as she led me out of the room.

"Lady Rias has requisitioned this wing of the mansion for your use," Grayfia said. "The doors to other wings, as well as to the third floor, will be locked. Please do not test them, the staff of the Gremory clan takes such matters seriously."

I nodded, staying silent as she gave me a brief tour of the nearby rooms. There were several larger ones dedicated to Rias's rather extensive collection of movies and shows, as well as nearly a two dozen bedrooms.

There was also, I noticed, two doors near where I'd lost connection with Rias and Akeno, perhaps one even held the portal back to the school where'd I'd first awoken. Grayfia didn't explain either of them, nor any of the myriad of locked doors defining the edges of my prison.

But only those two doors stood out to me. One, perhaps the one that had cut off my little spying attempt, looked the same as any other. Locked, of course, and I'd never been good with picks even if I had the material for them.

The other door though, was personalized, painted a lighter color, with some cute flowery decorations around the edges.

It looked like the door to someone's room.

I found myself back in front of it about half an hour after the tour had finished. It was also locked, right across from what I'd marked as the portal door in my own head. Reaching out, I hesitated a moment before rapping out a pattern on the light wood.

Tap tap taptap tap

For a few moments, I waited in silence, until…

Tap Tap.

Well now, I thought with a smile. Wasn't that interesting.