"Alright alright, what's this surprise? You've got me all worked up wondering," Lynx laughed, grabbing Alice's waist and tousling her hair, shaking the girl before pushing her away… but in spite of that, she couldn't see past the blindfold. Alice had stopped the car seemingly in the middle of the woods, and insisted that she be blindfolded as they continued on through the cold night air.
"Shut up, we're almost there!" Alice giggled in return. "You hate the cold, right? Here, stop walking," She added, and Lynx froze, planting her feet, angling her head, drawing a breath; still just the same smells of their warmth and love and trust, as well as the cold forest, the clean wind, the earth.
"Yeah. I hate being cold. Why?"
"Step forward," Alice spoke, so smug that Lynx could hear the smirk. Regardless, she stepped forward once, twice, thrice… and gasped, eyes widening under the fabric as if trying to see around it.
The air was… warm. No other descriptor worked but that- warm, neither dry nor humid… Lynx reached up to grab the blindfold, and paused. Alice didn't comment, or stop her, so she pulled it off entirely, jaw somewhat slackening.
"Welcome to your new base, leader of Aigis Order," Alice stated smugly, wiggling, and Lynx tried to answer, but she couldn't- it was…
"I know," Alice cut in. "It's not done, construction is still underway and all of that, but yeah, it's-"
"Perfect," Lynx laughed, unzipping her jacket and dropping it in the grass, jogging ahead, Nara and Alice following along more slowly. A portion of the forest had been cleared, and what was here was different- greens and reds and purples coexisting around the edges of the shells of buildings.
"That big one in the middle will be the building itself, with offices, an underground vault, and other stuff," Alice explained, pointing, then let her hand drift left, to a two-story shell near the treeline. "Those will be guest dormitories on the first floor, and for employees on the second- anybody who wants to live in will have the option. There will also be a launchpad from the roof of both buildings; the dorms, in case we get any fliers who want a clear spot to take off from. We'll have an infirmary and more living spaces but yeah- going to have this be a proper base. Best part is…"
"There," Alice curled her finger and pointed to another building, this one tucked deep into the treeline, almost hidden completely- if Alice hadn't pointed, Lynx might never have seen it at all. Perfect. "-Will be a house for us. Doesn't have to be the one you spend most of your time at or anything, but-"
"Shut up, just shut up," Lynx laughed, grinning brightly. "I'm sweating, Alice, this is insane, how did you do it?" She cast her eyes skyward; somewhere up there, the air seemed to shimmer.
"Magic," Alice grinned. "That and machines powered by Ichorum projecting heat into a dome, but like, magic yep trust. The house itself will be hidden by a spell; people will just see you leaving into the woods. That's not set up yet… course, they can still wander close, but regardless. There'll be security."
"I trust, I trust," Lynx laughed, nodding, letting out a sigh she didn't realize she'd held in. "Jeez…"
"Going to give it a gym and dojo too," Alice smiled. "Think that covers all the bases- the gym will have public showers, if you ever wanna-"
"Shut up-" Lynx snorted, and Nara smiled.
"You sure do like showers and waters for a cat," She practically purred, smirking, expression lazy and relaxed.
"Let me see the house- am I crazy, or is it done? And isn't it a little risky, having it here?"
"No," Alice smiled, sighing as they walked toward it, healthy grass bending underfoot. "Not at all- because this isn't really the house in question."
"What?"
"The real house isn't even in Ravenwood- you'll see," Alice purred, smiling softly. "Come on."
"Okay- but what, is there a portal inside of it or something?" Lynx raised an eyebrow, trying to figure it out, and Alice huffed hotly, planting her hands on her hips and pausing her stride.
"Stop being smart! Yeah, though- there is," Alice sighed and continued. Lynx, for her part, frowned.
"Sorry, I-"
"-no, I'm not actually upset," Alice amended, snorting. "I should have known you'd be too smart. Come on," She added, jogging into the treeline, Lynx and Nara close behind.
"You okay, Nara/ You're so quiet," Lynx called, and the kitsune looked up, thoughtful.
"Yes, I am okay. I am just still trying to find my place in all this- some in CA suggested I become an idol, a star, but my place is with you making change. Being a public figure- that can be my second priority, or maybe my fifteenth- I do not want an audience, but I understand the usefulness of one. I need to think it through on my own."
"Got it, well, I'm here if you need anything," Lynx offered gently, then stopped short as they reached the door to this cottage, and Alice opened it.
"Don't like locks, so the doors can only be opened by us," Alice explained. "Magic, again, don't bother questioning it too much. Anybody else would have to blow the wall clean off- which, fair, but they won't. Come on," She added and laid a hand on the knob, turning; the house looked… unremarkable. Not shabby, but not special, with a small, plain porch. When they stepped inside, they were greeted with the sight of a plain, unassuming kitchen; forward, a small living room with a cheap couch and desk. Left, a bathroom.
"Huh…" Lynx stepped forward, looking around. "Not that I'm not impressed but, I don't understand," She explained, and Alice smiled.
"There are three very unassuming bedrooms upstairs, but let's go to the basement," She added, leading the girls through the living room and to a small hall with a staircase leading down. Lynx paused, a moment, before she followed; so still. So quiet. Her steps on the carpet; she wasn't sure how she felt about that absolute peace- such that her cat's ears flicked, and she heard the vibration.
"You okay?" Nara asked gently, laying a hand on Lynx's arm, and she nodded.
"Fine," She whispered, yawning and continuing on. "Just, peaceful," She explained, and then she was in a basement; simple as ever, with a washer and drier, stone walls, a concrete floor and an unfinished ceiling. Alice wandered to the back wall though; between the washer and drier, another door, this one without paint, the wood chipped.
"Here we are," Alice smirked and laid a hand on the door, shoving it inward. "Hope you like your new home, dear," She added with a somewhat sarcastic lilt, stepping through. As soon as Lynx followed, she jolted.
"Is this, the basement?" The blonde asked, and Alice sighed comfortably, leaning against the wall as Nara followed and shut the door, her own eyes widening as well.
"It is," Alice grinned. "I designed this place with both of you in mind- it was just a fantasy at first, but I made a lot of calls after the whole Aigis Order thing. While you slept- you got super hearing but you're a deep sleeper~"
"Nuhuh," Lynx whispered, still looking around- the gym was expansive and divided into three parts. One was simple; laundry. Then, the stairs up divided laundry from a home gym with a handful of machines, and finally, there was a comfortable-looking portion set up for movies; rugs, pillows, blankets, a huge television. It was somehow cramped and spacious at the same time.
"Come on!" Alice beamed, bouncing up the stairs with a giggle. "You're gonna love this, seriously," She added as Lynx let Nara go first, stepping up into a spacious living room. The floors were hardwood, where visible- the room was scattered with pleasant, colorful rugs, a plush leather sofa, chairs, another television- but where Lynx's eyes shot was the fireplace against one wall, and the rug in front of it.
"Knew it," Alice spoke, smirk audible even in her voice. "Here, look," She added, pointing to the windows themselves; and look Lynx did, eyes softening, face relaxing as she walked forward.
Outside… was the furthest thing from cold she could imagine- even if it might just have been summer. A sweeping field of tall grass, dotted with fruitless trees, all of it glowing under a gorgeous blue sky like something out of a post card. For a moment, Lynx forgot the rest of the house existed, staring numbly outside- so gorgeous, it hardly felt real considering everything that had happened so far.
Far off, on the horizon, there was a city, too distant for the girls to make out any details from here; Nara, too, seemed struck, smiling softly at the view, and though Lynx didn't smile, that ever-present darkness in her eyes had receded as though, for just a moment, she didn't want to make the world beg for forgiveness.
"You love it," Alice stated softly; more observation than statement. "Perfect. You too, Nara?"
"It is quite nice," The fox nodded, eyelids heavy. "I guess it is impressive how you managed to choose something that could so easily be home, and yet reminds neither of us of our dark upbringings. This is not the home of an assassin or a controlled, stifled girl."
"I think a lot behind the scenes, even if I feel cute when I act airheaded," Alice retorted with a playful giggle, rolling her eyes.
"Say, what is the Family anyway? Exactly. Have I asked that?" Lynx angled her head, ears swiveling forward, tail flicking. "I'm sorry, feel kinda dumb, tired."
"Not dumb, very tired." Alice nodded. "I can't remember either, anyway. I'm just the heiress of a pharmaceutical giant; we're the ones who eradicated old-world problems like cancer, gender dysphoria, and more. We own most of the medical patents in major facilities, and nobody cares because I never let prices creep up too much; turns out a billion small profits is better than a million bigger ones."
"I see," Lynx nodded, thoughtful. "Don't discredit yourself though."
"Indeed," Nara agreed sagely. "You are a genius in your own right, not a mere heiress alone. Now, show us the rest of the house!"
So, Alice did; two bathrooms with walk-in showers, guest rooms, bedrooms; a vault in the attic packed with weapons that made Lynx's eyes widen- hey, they're shiny, fuck off.
By the end of it all, Lynx was walking out onto the wraparound porch with wide eyes, sucking in a taste of the air; no snow, no oil, no silt. Just… peace. Something smelled… not bad, per se, but there WAS another scent- the smell of a soul. Slowly, she looked up, clearing her throat as her eyes landed on the side of a mountain.
"What bothers you?" Nara asked softly, laying a hand on Lynx's arm, and the blonde swallowed, uncertain what she ought to say.
"I'm just curious? There's something intelligent up there."
"There is," Alice agreed, folding her hands behind her back. "A dragon."
"Oh, that's not anything to worry about," Lynx rolled her eyes, and Alice slowly smirked, nodding.
"You're right, it's not. I made friends with her!" Alice beamed, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "I guess she's sleeping right now, but I'm sure she'll come meet you sometime. Actually, she said she knows you- but she wouldn't explain. Just said that she has experience with you and Aerendyl both and doesn't mind us sharing her territory so long as we don't hunt."
For a moment, there was silence, and then…
"That is kind of a bombshell to drop by surprise, is it not?" Nara was the one to speak, laughing quietly, almost confusedly. Lynx was of two minds; agreeing and marveling at the sweat sliding down her sides, between her breasts- so warm, so perfectly not cold.
"Wait yeah-" Lynx shook her head, snapping out of it. "Why would a dragon know me? Like, from my past? From before?"
"Maybe," Alice shrugged. "You'll have to ask her, she said it isn't my place to pry into your past, especially when even you don't know it."
"What a respectful dragon," Nara snorted, tail wagging slowly. "I'd like to meet her."
"She said that she's a mother," Alice smiled, shrugging. "Whatever that means- maybe literal, but there are no other dragons around here. Anyway…"
"Wow, Alice," Lynx sighed, shaking her head and pointing to the city. "What's that?"
"One of the bigger cities in Mir, nothing special. Just… a big city," Alice shrugged. "There was an incident there a few years back, you've probably seen mention online. Big magic attack, killed thousands and lowered real estate values into the drain. How I got this land for a steal," She added, wiggling lazily, clearly proud of herself. "I don't think it makes much sense, since obviously a terrorist attack isn't a recurring thing when the perpetrator is behind bars, but hey."
"Who was it?" Lynx asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Leadership of a weapons company local to the area," Alice cleared her throat. "The war with Starria that ended a few years ago; it had a lot to do with them. They staged a few different magical attacks and blamed em on Starria- that's what the records at CA say, anyway. Aerendyl lets me access em whenever I want since I've got enough dirt to have him executed," Alice added, and when Lynx frowned slightly, she hurried to move on. "A-As leader of Aigis Order though, now you'll be able to access whatever records you need! At least, they'd better not try to stop you."
"Mhm, or I'll kill them with hammers," Lynx agreed with a lazy smirk, tail curling, flicking. "Nara, you okay? Still, so quiet."
"I am a quiet girl, Lynx," Nara stated lovingly, but firmly. "Silence does not have to mean problems, though I understand your concern," She added, stepping closer and smiling softly. "I am alright. Thinking a lot, overwhelmed; sure. However, I am just processing. You must shake the idea that silence means there is something being suppressed or hidden."
"Mm, I'll try." Lynx nodded, blinking slowly. "Well, Alice, should we head back inside? I think it's time we put together some real ideas for who to recruit, and how to do it."
"Wait," Nara whispered, pausing, ears twitching. "You hear that, right? It's coming our way," She added, and Lynx nodded- she'd been hearing a helicopter approaching them for about a minute, but there was a city it was likely headed toward right there, after all. Still, she looked up for a moment and watched, crossing her arms as the helicopter in question, visible now, began to rapidly descend.
"Oh," The blonde's eyes widened. "Oh yeah, you're right. That is coming exactly here. Think it'll wake the dragon up?"
"Who knows," Nara answered lazily as the bird rapidly descended, and then began to level out, the noise making her, Lynx, wince as the helicopter strayed about twelve or fifteen paces from the ground not too far from them. She watched, then, as a door along the side slid open, and somebody jumped out- even as they were rolling to their feet, the helicopter was moving away, toward the city, and rising again.
"Sup," The woman approaching them grinned; she was chaos incarnate, Lynx noted with a slight raise of the eyebrows. She sported cat ears and a tail to match, like Lynx, but her hair was lilac-colored with streaks of cyan, her eyes violet, and she had three sets of canines in her grin instead of one… and she looked, wrong. Unsettling, in a way; she was curvaceous and well-endowed, but where one would expect soft, feminine curves across the board, she was built like an ox with corded muscles and flat, rippling abs. "Stop checking me out," She added, and Lynx shook her head, eyes flicking up to the woman's face.
"You are wearing a tank top and a skirt," Nara huffed, annoyed. "Do not blame us for noticing. What brings you here?"
"Name is Charlotte, but my friends call me Lottie," The cat-girl smiled warmly, reaching out for Lynx's hand; when she offered it, Charlotte shook, still smiling, still warm.
"Good to meet you, Lottie," Lynx cleared her throat, smiling. "What brings you to my neck of the woods?"
"Oh nothing, I was just taking a walk and I saw some cute girls," Charlotte grinned even wider, unsettlingly so. "No, I wanted to introduce myself. I'm part of Wolfpack, we're a little ragtag band, a private military under Queen Aurum. We're the last line of defense if shit goes sideways with CA, and have clearance to disobey even the queen if it means saving the people. Dope, right?" She chuckled, stretching, rolling her shoulders and purring from deep in her throat, just like a cat. "Anyway, I was sent to give you that message, yeah~"
"Yeah?" Lynx cleared her throat, angling her head. "Why would Wolfpack want to… well, no, that's a dumb question, I guess I shouldn't be suspicious. But you don't, y'know- look like you're from a private military."
"That's because I can't die," Lottie shrugged. "It's my curse, my power, whatever; it's how all of us Cheshire Cats are wired. Which brings me to my second point; but can we go inside for that? It's like, hot in here," She huffed, leaning forward like a zombie and starting to shuffle toward the house. Briefly exchanging glances with Alice, Lynx nodded, laughing uneasily.
"Sure, let's go…"
-
"So," Lottie grinned, tossing Lynx's phone back to her, having saved her contact info. "I'm from Underland originally. It's a long story- you know much of Hell?"
"No."
"Kay, cool, whatever," Charlotte shrugged, yawning into her hand. God, Lynx thought with an inward chuckle and a smirk, is it cat-girl nature to crave coffee like nothing else?
"Basically," Charlotte's purring voice rumbled out. "Underland is the entry point of Hell and probably the most pleasant; its whole thing is kinda sex."
"What?"
"What?"
"Excuse me??"
Lynx, Alice, and Nara answered almost completely in sync, and Charlotte snorted, pressing on.
"Right. So, anyway, a lot of the flora there releases pheromones, which shaped a lot of Underland's culture. Debauchery and sex and hedonism, it's their thing, but it's a lot less dangerous than most of the other regions of Hell. Underland and some of the surrounding regions are defended by the Red Queen, and she turns normal demons into Cheshire Cats, don't ask how- rumor has it she was obsessed with some human fairytale, but I don't know about that, don't care to research," She snickered, crossing her legs.
"I got it, but, why are you telling us this?" Lynx raised an eyebrow.
"Because the Cheshire Cats HATE the Red Queen," Lottie winked. "So many of them don't want to be simple body guards, it gets talked about a lot. They're among the strongest demons in hell- and I wonder what might happen if they had another cause. One about bettering the world. A cause where outside help is exactly what the people are looking for," She smiled, patting her knees and standing. "Of course, that would mean a trip to Alcantore to see the portals, and from there to hell!!!"
"What makes a Cheshire Cat so strong?" Lynx asked, eyes dilating. "How do you… BECOME, a Cheshire Cat?"
"Oh, wouldn't you like to know," Lottie smirked, headed for the door, opening it. "I've said my piece; consider Wolfpack your allies, so long as our goals align! Oh, and by the way- how's your Aurelia?"
"Aurelia? She's, fine-"
"Great! Bye now," She, Charlotte, grinned, and was gone; the only sign that she'd left was the windows rattling in her wake and the way Lynx flinched, a wave of raw force hitting her. When she looked around, she saw that Nara and Alice were reacting similarly.
"What the…" Alice whispered, swallowing. "I… we should have access to Contracted Arms files now… think that's worth looking into?"
"Might be time to visit Aerendyl's computer," Lynx laughed quietly, nodding.
"What do you think, Nara?"
"That we ought to close the door."
"About Cheshire Cats?" Lynx asked, moving to the door and closing it slowly.
"It may be worth looking into. Why did you ask about the process to becoming one? You ought not be considering changing yourself," She added, as if cautioning.
"I… was just curious," Lynx shook her head, glancing at her phone; Lottie (Twin), read the contact. "Let's go and meet Aerendyl."
"Actually," She faltered, a few minutes later, as they were preparing to return to the Ravenwood Forest. "Would it be alright if I go alone?"
"Sure," Nara smiled. "I could do with a nap."
"With my car, and if you call me when you make it there safely? Please," Alice added, smile faltering. "Compromise, not conditions."
"Yeah, sure," Lynx nodded, gently taking the key. "Thanks. Just want some time to think and be alone."
"I get that," Alice nodded as Nara walked forward, hugging the blonde.
"I shall nap on the couch," The fox whispered, grinning. "We must break in the new bed together- wait- for sleep-"
"Yeah yeah," Lynx rolled her eyes, turning. "I get you. Just, yeah. I love you two, but I haven't been alone for a bit."
"Take your time," Alice smiled, and Nara nodded emphatically, already waddling with her arms out like a penguin back toward the basement of the Ravenwood home.