Lucy’s eyes stung as the bedroom came into focus. She sat up looking around the dark room. Lucy wondered when she had gotten back. Her heart leapt into her throat as her eyes scanned. This was her place alright, and there was a Fae sized lump in the bed. Lucy’s hand trembled as she reached across to peel the covers down. It was not Fae’s horns that came into view. Lucy withdrew her hand quickly. She buried her face in her pillow; she wanted to scream. She searched for yesterday’s memories, for answers, but she couldn’t recall anything but dull emotions. She remembered being pushed to and fro, but only because of the touch; Lucy didn’t remember anything visually. A sound; a name; Gisele? Yes, that was her name, Gisele. It was Gisele that was occupying Fae’s bed now and her sorrow was swiftly replaced by agitation. That was Fae’s bed. Lucy considered ruining it so it’d have to be replaced. Gisele could stay in her room but not in that bed. Lucy checked her phone, it was just past 4:30 in the morning. She wondered if the wash hall would have the lights on, having never been that early. I’ll never get back to fucking sleep like this. I can’t stand looking at her laying there dammit. I might as well go to the shower–the shower!

Lucy leapt to her feet and bolted out of the room. She ran down the hall and badged in. The lights weren’t on; Lucy slowed her pace. As she looked for the light switch she heard the cascading clicks of relays in the ceiling. The lights flickered on of their own accord.

“Ohhhhhh, they’re automatic,” Lucy said to herself. She had never been the first in the washroom before and despite it being so early she was surprised Jezebel wasn’t in yet. Lucy’s shoulders dropped as she realized the flaw in her plan. “Right, I’ll have to wait for Fae anyways. I wonder if she’s going to wake up early with her–” Lucy stopped short, she was about to say ‘new roommate’ but those words stuck fast in her throat and refused to come out. A small giggle escaped her lips as her thought continued, “there’s no fucking way, I bet she’s late on purpose. Guess I’m fucking waiting”

The water in the bath was still, and the perfume wasn’t being added to it yet. Pure water had an unusual smell here. Lucy was so used to the scented water that the bath became a freshly chlorinated pool in her mind. It was far from that lone island of comfort she had come to know. Lucy dipped her toes in and recoiled with a squeak. The water was icy cold, they weren’t running the heat yet. “Augh, what do I have to do to–”

“Lucy!?” A familiar voice echoed through the hall, “Lucy is that you in there?”

“Yes ma’am! I got in early, couldn’t sleep real well so I thought I’d start my day and–”

“I have yet to rouse the heating Lucy, don’t you go catching cold.” Jezebel interrupted a second time.

“Yes ma’am, I’ll wait here ma’am.”

“You’ll do no such thing and stop making me shout across the hall, front and center Lucy.”

Lucy scurried back to the dress hall, nearly slipping in the process. She joined Jezebel who was already removing a wooden access panel. Behind it were a series of flip switches and labeled lights.

“It’s simple, but if you’re going to be here this early you may as well learn how to turn the water and fragrance on.” Jezebel showed her the water temperature controls, those were simple and straightforward. The fragrance on the other hand was a dizzying array of switches and the labels didn’t seem to match anything she was accustomed to. “It’s an easier day today, but it’s early yet for you to do this unsupervised. I want you to flip ‘floral’ and ‘vanilla’ and then press that button over there, the blue one. It’s for lighter scent days.” Lucy did as she was told. Jezebel replaced the wood panel. If she hadn’t been shown directly, Lucy would have never known it was there. “I’m sure you’ve noticed but the perfume is done by mixing the base notes. If you get here early regularly I’ll start training you on the recipes.”

“Yes ma’am,” Lucy said.

“Oh, I nearly forgot, silly me. You’ll be on restricted duty today. You have a newbie to train and those puffy bags from all that crying you’ve been doing are ghastly. Make sure not to be seen by non-staff today. You look dreadful and pathetic,” Jezebel said as she turned away. She didn’t wait for Lucy’s acknowledgement.

Once it was warm and scented, Lucy slid into the bath. She didn’t go through her vigorous cleaning routine, instead she soaked and waited for the maids to file in while waiting eagerly for Fae to arrive. It was nearly an hour before the first fresh face poked their head in, and Lucy was already getting pruney fingers. After that the pace started to pick up, it was close to the time she’d normally be getting ready to come in. She checked face after face, each one giving her a pang of disappointment. Another half-hour passed, no Fae. Where is she? Lucy thought. No Gisele either. Lucy tried to make sense of the situation as a knot grew in her stomach. Lucy stood up; she didn’t see Fae but she did see a group of demonesses worth talking to. Lucy approached the circle of her colleagues that Fae counted as friends.

“Hey, I know we’ve only like, met once before but, oh and thanks for that by the way I didn’t get the chance and um–” Lucy rambled.

“Good grief! You’re just as spastic as Fae said you were Lucy. Good morning?”

Lucy realized she didn’t know the speaker’s name. She considered trying to skate by without asking. Lucy looked at her, the largest of the group by far, she was the muscle both figuratively and literally. Jezebel was taller, but this woman was far more imposing.

“G…good morning. Dammit do you know where Fae is?” Lucy said.

“Oh, Lucy. I’d tell you to sit down but that’s not really an option. Fae has been sent to the north dorm, with her new partner. I’m afraid you won’t be seeing her here in the morning. You might have caught that if you didn’t spend most of yesterday uncontrollably sobbing.”

Lucy felt the words like a pipe to the gut. The glib delivery wasn’t making it easier.

“I think I need to go find my p–” the word stuck in her throat again, “I need to find someone, excuse me please.” Lucy made a hasty retreat out of the wash room, desperate to busy herself with her work before she had another breakdown. She looked over the dress hall and found no sign of Giselle. Lucy grabbed her belongings and left. She checked her room, but Gisele wasn’t there. “She’s fucking lost isn’t she, she’s fucking lost.”

It took some time canvassing the dormitory passages to find Gisele, who was hopelessly turned around. Lucy ran up, putting her hand on Gisele’s shoulder as she came up behind her. Gisele whipped around attempting to cover herself. Gisele’s lavender hair whipped into Lucy’s face, causing her to take a startled step back. This was the first time Lucy had actually seen her new partner, at least the first time she could remember. The horns she recognized, they were hard to miss and were how she picked Gisele out in the first place. Gisele’s horns were ridged and started just behind her ears, they followed the curve of her ears and bent inwards, covering her brow. Gisele styled her hair over all but the last couple of inches of her horns, where her bangs would pass behind them. Gisele straightened slowly and kept her arms close to her body. She was Lucy’s height, and it didn’t seem like her chest was much bigger either.

“Ah, you’ll get used to that, or at least you better because we don’t get to keep clothes of our own. Naked unless working, you read that part right? In your orientation handbook?”

“I…I may have lost it. Ma’am,” Gisele said.

“Ma’am? Oh no, no you should stop calling me that right now. Only one person here gets called Ma’am and it isn’t me, not Lucy. Jesus christ if Jezebel heard you. Wait, you lost it!?” Lucy’s eyes widened, “you’re lucky I still have mine we’d be toast! We’re going, we’re going now, you’re coming with Lucy.” Lucy grabbed Gisele by the wrist and first led them back to their room, and then to the wash hall, so that Gisele could learn the route. The wash hall was clearing by the time they arrived. “Don’t worry, we’re on restricted duty today so we should be alright, but being late to morning assembly is very bad. Never ever do it again or we’re both in more trouble than you think.” Lucy took Gisele to the lockers, showing her how the locker system worked and how pairs used them. Lucy opened her own locker to retrieve her old orientation manual. It was a worn paperback with rough edges and dog eared pages. She gave it to Gisele. “You’re super lucky I have this, it’s only here because I was too lazy to throw it away you know, I’m not that organized to keep it just in case.”

“Thank you, I’m glad you have it,” Gisele said. Her eyes were pointed at the floor, and she wasted no time using the book to help cover herself.

“You’ll probably want to put that into your locker for later, you wouldn’t want to get it wet right? I have to show you the wash hall.”

“Do we really have to be like this?” Gisele said as she reluctantly placed her new manual in her locker.

“Yeah, don’t dwell on it alright? You’ll just have to get used to it like everyone else. I was modest too but it didn't really work out for me. Okay?”

Lucy gave Gisele the tour of the dress and wash halls and showed her how to put the uniform on properly. Lucy had anticipated Gisele not being good at it, everyone needed substantial practice, but she wasn’t looking forward to her next inspection. From there she took Gisele through her normal beat, explaining tasks and procedures and making sure to point out what the manual covered. They came up upon their replacement team and Lucy had Gisele observe for a while, and she found herself idle. She reflexively went digging for her phone and looked for something to do when an idea struck her. Lucy opened her contacts and frowned. They had counted on being partners for the long haul, and spent most of their time actively disliking each other, so of course they never exchanged numbers. They were already late for lunch when they got to the elevator, Lucy badged in. Gisele entered the elevator car and placed herself between Lucy and the buttons.

“Which floor are we on again?” Gisele asked.

“B1, it will always be B1 and besides if you hit a button you’re not allowed to go to it’ll just turn red, that’s what the phones do, okay?” Lucy waved her phone around to emphasize.

“Oh cool so if I–” Gisele pressed the 3rd and 4th floor buttons, they both turned green.

“Fuck! What the fuck? It’s gotta be broken, we're not allowed on either of those! We’re getting off at 3! We are not going to 4!”

“Is 4 bad?”

“Yes 4 is bad, there’s some people up there we don’t wanna run into because they will know we don’t belong there, we’ll have major trouble, it would be so over.”

The elevator slowed to a stop and shuddered as they reached the third floor. Despite the green lights indicating otherwise, Lucy could hardly believe the doors were opening. She grabbed Gisele by the wrist and pulled her along; Lucy wasn’t taking any chances, that car was going to arrive on the fourth floor empty. Lucy looked around at the 3rd floor, releasing Gisele’s hand as the elevator doors closed. She paused to look at her phone, all she could do was stare. She looked back at the elevator.

“You try badging in this time Gisele okay?” Lucy said.

Gisele nodded and presented her phone to the elevator. She extended her hand to the down button.

“Wait! Hit up, I need to see something.” Lucy interrupted.

When Gisele pressed the up button, it flashed red 3 times and went out. She looked back at Lucy.

“That’s how it’s supposed to go I guess, what is going on here? Press down, I don’t want to stay here and have someone see us, especially today holy shit.”

Gisele held her phone up again, waiting for the confirmation noise, and pressed down. A green light came on and stayed on. After a moment, the doors opened and allowed them back in. Gisele tried the 4th floor again at Lucy’s request and again she received 3 red flashes as a reply. The B1 button worked normally. Gisele looked at Lucy expectantly. Lucy shrugged.

“Just don’t tell anyone that happened, it was a glitch or something shit, we shouldn’t have been up there and it was a mistake or something so unless you want to just like, get in trouble for no reason we shouldn’t talk about it okay?”

“Yes Ma–Lucy,” Gisele said.

Lucy resumed training her new partner, showing her how lunch was done, how to access the gym, and activities involving helping the next shift get ready to work. When they finally got back to their room, they both flopped onto their respective beds, exhausted. A thought had been playing on repeat for Lucy ever since the elevator incident. Was that a fluke? Can I go wherever I want? Gisele covered herself up with her sheets. Lucy shook her head, but didn’t offer an explanation this time. God if Fae were here she’d just start masturbating right in front of this girl to have a laugh. A giggle escaped Lucy’s lips as she sat up.

“Hey, you don’t really have time to just be laying there acting all embarrassed, we still have work to do! Handbook time, time to study,” Lucy said. She thought if she got Gisele’s nose buried in the handbook she might be able to sort her own thoughts out. The temptation to fly out the door and head straight for the north dorm, just to see if she could get there, had her bouncing her calves on the edge of the bed.

“Exactly fifteen degrees!?” Gisele blurted out.

“Hm, oh yeah the bow, yeah you gotta tie it so it’s exactly correct, believe me Jezebel will check, she gave me a fucking protractor once just to taunt me when I couldn’t get it one time. Every time I came back and it was wrong she’d pinch my hand in the protractor. If it’s written there she’ll hold you to it.” Lucy started bargaining with herself. She wanted to leave now, but perhaps she could sneak out tonight; she wanted to find Fae, maybe she could just find the dorm. Occasionally she’d be snatched from her thoughts by another one of Gisele’s questions.

“Gisele I think I’m going to need the handbook back for a minute or two, I’ll give it right back I mean, it’s like, mine in the first place, don’t know how you lost yours but you can have it right back in a few I promise.”

Gisele closed the handbook and stretched over the gap between the beds, holding her sheets to her body with her other hand. Lucy grabbed it and immediately turned to some of the last pages, snapping pictures of them with her phone. The handbook was quickly back in Gisele’s hands. Lucy could feel the obvious question coming from the eyes of her shy roommate.

“It’s the map pages for the palace, I realized today I didn’t know them well enough so I figured I’d get a picture of them so you could keep studying,” Lucy said.

“Oh that makes sense,” Gisele said, nodding. She went back to studying, asking Lucy for the occasional clarification.

It wasn’t long before lights out came. Lucy tossed and turned; nothing felt quite right or comfortable. She grabbed her phone quietly, took a look at the map, checked for messages she knew weren’t coming, and put it back. Now she laid still, but it wasn’t because she found comfort. She stilled her breath as much as her lungs would allow and listened. Occasionally she’d hear a small bump from a neighboring dorm. She listened, and waited. Eventually she heard it, she listened to Gisele’s rhythmic breathing for a few more minutes just to be sure. Asleep at last. Lucy inched out of bed, more aware of her movements and the noise she was making. Lucy felt as if she could hear a cricket from three doors down. She took her satchel and quietly opened the door, greeted by the pleasant sight of a consistent dark gray corridor. So far, the few people that found out about her vision were surprised by it, and tonight she was banking on it being an uncommon gift.

Lucy checked her surroundings before retrieving her phone, knowing she’d have to be quick about this. Up came the map, and she quickly looked for a path to the general area of the north dorm. It looked like it was also on the basement level of that wing, but she’d have to go through at least the second floor to get there, the first floor didn’t connect. Back in the satchel the phone went. She made for the elevator, she’d have to go through the wash hall to get there. She presented her phone to the double doors and winced as the large clunk of the locks disengaging rang out through the quiet halls. During the day she hardly noticed sounds like that, but now they felt like alarm bells. Badging into the elevator was even louder, as the arrival chime echoed through the dress hall. Lucy stepped inside and hit the 2 button. Green like normal. As the elevator rose Lucy realized that she wouldn’t be able to see the other side before the elevator announced her presence and opened the doors. She swallowed hard.

I’ll have to find a way to use the stairwells next time.

Lucy watched the doors open with wide eyes. The interior of the elevator was lit, another problem. The doors opened to black hallway, and fortunately with no occupants.

You got lucky that time Lucy, we’re being more careful from here on out.

Lucy crept slowly through this part of the hall. This is where she ran into Apollyon, and though she knew it was next to impossible she’d meet him a third time she couldn’t bring herself to rush through. The elevator chimed again and the doors slowly snuffed the only light remaining in the hallway. Lucy was under the cover of darkness again. Her next stop was the kitchen, she held up her phone, another click too loud for comfort. Lucy opened the door slowly and peered in, relieved that the kitchen was quiet. She’d never been on kitchen duty before, she thought it was possible it could be running all the time like the laundry rooms. As she let the door close behind her she breathed a sigh of relief. That was one of the doors she shouldn’t have been able to open. Lucy looked around the kitchen and stepped through it carefully, being especially mindful of her tail. Hanging pots and pans and stacks of dishes with tables and counters turned the tiled room into a hazardous noise labyrinth.

“I could retreat here if I wanted, anyone else would run into something, fall down, hit their head on something, yeah I like this. I like this a lot,” Lucy whispered to herself. She took her phone out again, this was another opportunity to check the map in relative safety. A click of a lock broke that secure feeling into shards of glass. Lucy found the nearest countertop and ducked underneath it, holding her breath. Foot steps, followed by the light coming on. The footsteps stopped for a moment. Lucy could feel her heartbeat in her ears. The footsteps resumed, they were coming towards her. She could see the legs clearly now, slacks and dress shoes. This was one of the male servants, one of Foras’ boys. The pair of legs stopped right in front of her. Lucy closed her eyes and focused on not letting her breath out; she was pleading with her thoughts to anyone that might be able to hear them. The legs moved again and soon the light was out, a door opened and shut. Lucy didn’t let her breath out, she slowly stood to scan around the dark room, to make sure the servant had actually left first. The coast was clear. She allowed herself to let go now and spent the next few minutes catching her breath. She looked at her phone, she forgot to turn it off. If he had left the lights out, if he had been able to move without turning them on, he’d have seen the glow of the phone for sure. Lucy moved back to under the counter, now that she was sure the servant was gone. She thought she’d let him mozy for a few minutes before leaving, giving her time to study the map. Now she was interested in stairwells. Elevators were off the menu. She didn’t get a good picture in her haste, it was a little blurry. She found what she thought looked like stairwells. Something didn’t quite make sense about the layout to her, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

Lucy approached the door, it was the door the servant had left through, but it was the direction she needed to go. She cracked the door to peek through. Lights were out, no sign of the servant. She made her way down the winding corridors. She got lost a few times, and she was starting to learn more parts of the palace’s second floor than she had intended. She came across the hall patrols a few times, but this time there was no Morgen, no conversation, she could see them long before they’d ever see her, and her footsteps were light. She wanted to check the time, she felt like it had been a while and wanted to be sure, but that would mean ducking into a bathroom or another space where she’d have to make a blind exit, and every blind exit was a risk, every unlocked door a breadcrumb. She was too close to her destination to take risks, even if it meant going in a few more circles. She walked across a door that was different from the rest, it required a badge in.

Here we go

Lucy raised her phone to the door, click, door open. Lucy peered in; it was a stairwell.

I hope this is the right one

Lucy went down a flight, so if anyone investigated the noise she’d be out of view. She took a look at the map again. Lucy suppressed a cheer when she realized she was in the right place. Another flight down would be basement level one, the north dorm. Lucy was getting restless, she opened the B1 door without cracking it first. She stepped out, this was it, rows of small rooms, occupants fast asleep.

Fuck, which one is hers, do I go back? I should go back I'm so much deeper in than I was supposed to go today. I can come back tomorrow and I’ll get here faster, I’ll have more time to find which room Fae is in tomorrow.

Lucy turned to badge back into the stairwell. She hesitated. She just stared at it; her arm wasn’t lifting and she wasn’t trying to force it. Lucy turned around.

All or nothing

Lucy quietly opened the first bedroom she came across and stared into it. They were under their blankets, she had to carefully inspect their horns to know for sure. She realized this was going to take longer than she thought. She imagined just being able to swing a door open, take a quick glance and dart out. That would have taken a half hour tops. This could take until morning. Lucy went to the next room. She looked closely, her heart leapt into her throat, those looked like Fae’s horns next to the doorside bed. She approached and grabbed the covers. She was sweating cold, she had goosebumps, she leaned into the face. It wasn’t Fae. It was someone else with nearly identical horns. Lucy’s jaw clenched, and she kept checking rooms. Some rooms were quicker than others, some were giving her false hope with similar horns. The alternating hope and disappointment were making her stomach turn over, and she thought she might get sick. Lucy checked the next room, at least this one was unambiguously not Fae’s. She went on. Another set of horns that could be Fae’s, another face check. The demoness stirred, Lucy fled, she tripped and cried out when she hit the floor. She didn’t look back, she thought there was no way she didn’t wake her up. She shut the door behind her without a care for being quiet, and ran to the next corner to watch the door. It wasn’t long before the door opened and the demoness poked her head out with her phone flashlight. Lucy ducked back behind the corner before the light could sweep over her. The light moved away from the corner and Lucy peeked back around. The figure was stooping now, looking at the floor. She reached out for an object that was on the floor. It was a familiar U-shaped object.

Fuck! Oh no, shit, what do I do, what do I do, what does Lucy do?

The figure grabbed the object and tucked it into her own satchel, went back into her room and shut the door. How long would she be awake? Would she play with it or just go to sleep? These questions raced through Lucy’s mind. Lucy ducked back behind the corner and sank to the ground in a sitting position. The loss of the vibrator was bad enough but the evidence she had been there and the fact someone was now awake to hear her poking around was worse. She thought if she left there was a good chance the entire encounter would be reported to someone who could investigate it. The badge logs would be checked, and she would be caught. Lucy checked her sachet to make sure nothing else had fallen out of it. Everything seemed to be there, but the strap had broken.

God damnit could this get worse? That must have broken when I ran out but didn’t come loose from the hook right away. How the fuck am I going to fix this?

Lucy held her satchel to her chest and brought her knees to it. For the next hour she sat there, checking her phone on occasion to mark the time. After an hour had passed, she walked over to her vibrator’s new bedroom. It was already after 2:00 am. She slowly opened the door, it creaked on her. Lucy shrank back; she could hear snoring. She entered the room when she couldn’t initially see the other satchel. She checked under the bed, on the nightstand. It wasn’t there. She looked back at the demoness she had awoken earlier, who was sleeping on her side. She looked for the loosest side of the blanket, feet were poking out. Lucy put her tail under it to gently lift it up, leaving her arms free. There it was, the satchel, being kept at the stomach. She fiddled with the satchel as slowly as she could. Her lips were quivering and her teeth threatened to chatter. The zipper was fussy and stuck a few times. Keeping this hunched over position was starting to strain her back.

Oh Jesus Christ there it is, I found it. I found it.

Lucy didn’t close the satchel, it was far more likely a report would be taken seriously now. She left the room, shutting the door quietly. She checked a few more rooms without incident, but no Fae. She was running out of time, she’d be dead to the world tomorrow, there were only a few hours left to start the morning routine.

“Fuck–!” Lucy quickly covered her mouth, her emotions had gotten the best of her. Lucy made her way over to the stairwell door, she had to get out now. Lucy knelt down to open her satchel. She retrieved her phone, a door swung open. Lucy froze, there was no way she could open the stairwell door now. She thought she’d have to wait another half-hour at least for this person to fall back to sleep to.

“Lucy? Lucy is that you?” A voice called down the hall.

Lucy picked up her bag and sprinted down the hallway, she could see the open door and the woman standing in the hallway. It –was– Fae. Fae looked in her direction. Lucy wasn’t making any effort to be quiet. Lucy buried her wet face into Fae’s chest and wrapped her arms around her, letting her satchel fall.

“Yeah Fae, it’s me,” she whispered, stammering, sniffling. Lucy felt Fae’s warm arms on her back.

“Lucy, I think we should exchange numbers,” Fae said, her voice wavering.

“There’s no way I’m fucking leaving until we do.”