Chương 92: Chapter 90 - Making Friends the Havoc Way

There was a knock at the door.. The Valkyr opened the door and immediately ushered two women inside. The pair entered with the a strange sort of urgency. Like something was chasing them into the room. Chelsea looked around the room. The visual contrast was almost comical. Suffering, Deceit, and Passion were all dressed in their Valkyr armor. Chelsea was still wearing enough polished metal to blind someone in direct sunlight.

"Right," Passion said.

"Real introductions." She pointed toward the two newcomers.

"Chelsea, this is Suffering and Deceit." Then she pointed at Chelsea.

"Girls, this is our new Havoc, Chelsea."

"I'm so sorry!" The words exploded out of Chelsea before anyone else could speak. All three other Valkyr blinked. Chelsea continued.

"The way I spoke to both of you at the bathing room was completely out of character for me. I was having a very bad day, and I genuinely feel terrible about it. Please accept my apology." Deceit slowly looked toward Passion. Passion was trying very hard not to laugh.

"Is she joking?" Deceit asked. Passion shook her head.

"Mm-mm." She replied with her lips curled into her mouth. Suffering stepped between them.

"Oh, stop it." She waved a hand dismissively.

"We accept your apology. It was obvious you were having a terrible day." The woman looked Chelsea up and down.

"And you're still basically a kid. What are you? Twenty-two? Twenty-three?"

"Eighteen." The room fell silent.

"Eighteen?" Deceit repeated. Chelsea nodded. Deceit pointed at her.

"Look at you!" Chelsea looked down at herself.

"What about me?"

"You look..." Passion immediately stepped forward.

"Aha. Let's not finish that sentence." Both women looked at her.

"If we go down that road, we'll probably wander into secret territory, and none of us need Adriane Wixx deciding we've become a problem." Suffering's attention shifted.

"You really have a bag of hearts?" Chelsea smiled.

"I do." The woman's eyes lit up. Chelsea reached into her pouch and pulled out a pillowcase-sized bag. Suffering immediately leaned over.

"Whoa." She looked inside.

"Those are eyes."

"Yep."

"And those?"

"Liver."

"Interesting." Chelsea casually reached in, grabbed an eye, and popped it into her mouth. Deceit physically recoiled.

"I'm going to be sick." Chelsea swallowed.

"I get that a lot."

"Are we waiting on Freedom?" Suffering asked.

"She's supposed to be here," Passion replied.

"But you know how Principles can be."

"So, please don't take this the wrong way, but both of your subclasses sound incredibly sinister." Deceit gave her a long look. Then after a few seconds she slowly enunciated.

"Ha. Voc." Chelsea nodded.

"That's… Fair. But I'm curious. What do your class descriptions actually say?"

"The hell if I know?" Deceit replied with a barked laugh.

"You've never read it?"

"I can't read." Chelsea blinked. Right. That was apparently still a thing. It was cute and endearing at first. Aww people who can't read? Now it's just getting frustrating.

"Want me to tell you?" Suffering folded her arms.

"You have The Eyes and you can read?" Chelsea nodded. The woman looked genuinely impressed.

"I don't need to know what mine says. I already know what I do." This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it"What do you do?"

"I take pain." Chelsea tilted her head.

"Take pain?"

"From injured people. Usually soldiers. Adventurers. Anyone really." Chelsea really liked the way Suffering talked. It was fast paced but she spoke very clearly.

"So... you remove pain?"

"Yep." The pieces suddenly clicked together. Suffering wasn't named after what she caused. She was named after what she carried.

"Oh." The realization hit hard enough that she actually felt guilty. She had completely misjudged her.

"Wait," Chelsea said.

"Then what happens to the pain?" Suffering smiled.

"It gets transferred to me. It's a sort of healing." She quickly added.

"But it's not magic. It's a bunch of abilities. I transfer their pain to me. The longer I do it the faster their body heals. Chelsea blinked.

"Why would you do that?" Suffering looked genuinely confused by the question.

"Because I like it." Suffering continued smiling.

"I'm what's called a masochist." She said it with the same casual tone someone might use to explain their favorite color.

"I enjoy pain. A lot." Chelsea thought about that. Then thought about it some more. Then shrugged. She ate human hearts. Judging people felt a little hypocritical.

"Well," Chelsea said, "we all have something we lose ourselves in."

"That is so cool. What about you, Deceit?" Chelsea asked. Deceit shrugged.

"My branch is supposed to be the Valkyr spy network. We have illusion abilities that aren't technically magic. I haven't ever gotten to put my skills to practical use. The battles we have been in since I became a Valkyr have all been too straightforward and over too fast."

"Oh, fascinating. I wish the names were slightly more on the nose. Spy, diplomat, err..." Chelsea looked at Passion and laughed.

"Well, Passion actually fits."

"Diplomat?" Suffering asked.

"My class description says I seek diplomatic solutions prior to laying waste to armies or something like that."

"We have bets going," Deceit said.

"Passion told us she saw you buying historic equipment. What level are you?"

"That is one of the secrets that could turn you into demon food," Chelsea replied sweetly before clicking her teeth twice.

"Though I can tell you a general range. I am slightly under level twenty-four." She followed this with a wink. Passion immediately it. The Valkyr doubled over laughing.

"I told you she was above fifteen." Suffering pointed at Deceit.

"See?"

"Right, and I said she had to be above twenty if she's a Wixx."

"I don't remember you saying that." Suffering deflated, pouting.

"You weren't paying attention." Deceit shoved Suffering's face to the side rough yet playfully. Chelsea found herself smiling. It hurt though. The easy familiarity between them reminded her of home. She hadn't gone a day in weeks without Ivy nearby. Even when they weren't talking, she had always been there. Now she had Passion, which was nice, but it wasn't the same.

"What did you do with my servicers?" Passion asked suddenly.

"And thank you, by the way. I knew Havoc would see the room eventually. It never occurred to me that the highs would push their way in." Chelsea blinked. She understood maybe half of those words.

"Can you explain that?" Deceit began explaining, "Oh, yeah. The servicers are…" There was another knock at the door.

"Finally," Suffering drawled as she stood. She opened the door, peeked outside, and quickly ushered Freedom into the room. Again, she did it like she was being chased and they shut the door quickly.

"Okay," Deceit said.

"Now we can change." Suffering, Freedom, Deceit and Passion immediately started removing armor while continuing their conversation. Chelsea's stomach dropped. Not because they were changing. Because she had to in fron tof them. Freedom noticed she hadn't moved.

"If you like need something to wear, Suffering probably has something close to your size." Chelsea laughed.

"No, it's not that. I am so sorry, but would you three mind not watching me change?" Passion immediately understood.

"Ah. Yeah. Please look the other way." Freedom looked confused. Suffering's expression brightened.

"Oh." She leaned toward the others.

"She's only eighteen." The other two immediately seemed to understand. Chelsea was more than happy to let that explanation stand. Yes. That was exactly it. A shy eighteen-year-old girl. Nothing else to see here. Deceit narrowed her eyes.

"This is secret-related, isn't it?" Neither Chelsea or Passion moved to refute it.

"That means yes."

"What if she has some magical tattoo?" Deceit asked.

"Something hidden somewhere. If we see it, do we all become demons?"

"No," Suffering replied.

"That's stupid. Then Passion would be a demon."

"Ooo. Good point." While they debated increasingly ridiculous explanations, Chelsea hurriedly changed.

"What if it's a scar?" Suffering suggested.

"She did say her mother did things to her." Freedom nodded.

"That would totally make sense. Adriane Wixx probably doesn't want people finding out she like mutilated her own daughter." Chelsea noticed something about Freedom. The way she spoke was… familiar. She heard people talk that way on Earth. She spoke, dropping her voice lower than she should which made it sound gravely and she ended her sentences with upward inflections. It almost sounded like she was asking questions with simple statements.

"You all really think the worst of my mother," Chelsea laughed. By then she was standing there completely naked.

"Look. No scars." She spread her wings. The three Valkyr turned around. Then immediately looked away again.

"Chelsea!" Deceit yelped.

"What?"

"You could have warned us."

"The secret isn't that interesting," Chelsea replied.

"Uh, please look away again." They obediently did. A few moments passed. Then Suffering spoke.

"I bet it has something to do with that towel." Chelsea's stomach sank. Of course. The towel. She had completely forgotten they saw it happen.

"What towel?" Freedom asked.

"The one from the bathing room," Suffering replied.

"She wrapped herself in a white towel and then the towel became..."

"I'm done. You can turn around now." The three Valkyr looked back. Chelsea had changed into her usual sleepwear. The tight fitting top sat comfortably on her while the fitted shorts hugged her legs. Deceit immediately frowned.

"What in the world are you wearing?"

"Sleepwear from a store I was..." Chelsea let out a sigh.

"I was going to open." Freedom looked her up and down.

"Your mother was going to let you open something that like… risqué?" Chelsea blinked.

"This is risqué?" She turned around to examine herself. The outfit was comfortable. That was the important part. She still wasn't entirely convinced normal people understood clothing.

"I've always wondered," Suffering said.

"Do demons have any interesting abilities?"

"Uh!" Passion quickly interrupted.

"That's a sec…"

"Well, one of them is a secret," Chelsea admitted.

"The others I can show you." A mischievous smile spread across her face.

"But for this to work, I need you three to turn around again." Freedom groaned.

"Seriously?" The three women obediently faced the wall. Chelsea quickly swapped outfits. A moment later she stood in her favorite light blue and white dress, complete with gloves, shoes, necklace, and matching hat. Passion watched the process with growing confusion. Chelsea pointed at the three Valkyr and made a spinning motion with her finger.

"I think she's saying you can turn around now?" Passion said, unsure. The women turned. Then stared equally as confused as Passion.

"This is it?" Freedom asked.

"You can get dressed up?" Chelsea smiled but intentionally didn't say a word yet. She walked over to Freedom. The Valkyr watched her approach. When Chelsea reached a distance that seemed too close, she looked directly into the woman's eyes and smiled.

"Hi." Would you like to force the target to become your love thrall? Y/N Again? These women must have had incredibly low Charisma. She immediately broke eye contact and moved on. Her eyes met Deceit's "I love your outfit," Would you like to force target to become your love thrall? Y/N Chelsea stepped over to Suffering.

"You have beautiful eyes." She oozed. She probably didn't have to try to be all seductive but it was fun playing the part. Would you like to force target to become your love thrall? Y/N"Uh, thank you?" Suffering replied, looking confused. Chelsea frowned. The prompt had appeared for all three of them. Yet Suffering seemed completely unaffected. That was interesting.

"H-Havoc," Deceit began. Chelsea immediately moved back toward her.

"No, Erica. We're closer than that. Please call me Chelsea." Deceit's face turned red then began nodding quickly at her words.

"Chelsea," she said.

"Would you like to stay with us tonight? Passion only cares about her stupid servicers. We would treat you so much better."

"Uh... what!?" Suffering asked loudly. Freedom stepped forward.

"No, stay with me and Principles." She paused. Then continued with complete confidence.

"We have been secretly making love with each other for years, so we're much more qualified at loving someone. We can love you way better than those bitches." Suffering inhaled sharply. Passion did the same. Chelsea quickly turned to them. Both women were staring at Freedom with identical expressions of shock. Chelsea immediately got the distinct feeling that something important had just happened. Something very important. And judging by the size of their eyes, she was realizing she just seriously fucked up.