Alexios’s eyes shot open, and the first thing she noticed was that all sorts of boxes, words, numbers, and graphs had been overlayed onto her vision. “What are these weird things in my vision?” She muttered to herself. “Wait…my vision…I…I have both eyes!” Hand trembling, she reached up to her left eye, and, sure enough, she was able to see her slender fingers clearly. That…didn’t seem right, she –
“Alexios!” Minerva cried out, rushing over.
“Minerva?” Alexios mumbled. “Where are we? How have I been healed? And…your, ears, and are you in a maid outfit?!”
“We…we saved you from the curse.” Minerva replied. “And the maid thing…I’ll explain later. How are you feeling? Any problems with your eye or arm? And…is being a woman bothering you? I was told it was the only way to cure you and that you’d feel fine, but…”
Alexios stood and looked down, finding that her armor had changed into a form-fitting black suit of sorts, glowing green and red lines running across it. And…yes, she was a woman, breasts and all. And that was…fine, actually. In fact, it had felt a little odd when Minerva called her Alexios, like the name was too…masculine.
“I don’t mind. It even feels a little odd being called Alexios now, strange as that sounds. But my body is great, it feels better than it has for decades, I’m just a little confused, there are all these boxes and numbers in my vision now and I don’t know what they mean.”
“That’s because, from what I can tell, you seem to be an android now, a machine with a soul.” An oddly familiar maid said. And, as she did, Alexios somehow felt the truth of that statement; not that the maid was using some sort of magic or anything, just that the word “android” felt right. “From what I have been given to understand, the things in your vision are readouts about environmental data, reports on the status of your body, and other useful information. You should be able to turn them off if you just think about it. Anyway, do you have a new name in mind?”
That only took a moment of thought. “Alexis.” She said. “I like Alexis. But let me…oh.” Alexis focused on removing the strange things in her vision, and they instantly vanished. “They’re gone now, but…how did you know I could do that? And what do you mean I’m a machine? I still feel completely normal.”
“You likely have a fragmented memory of the past day or so.” The woman replied. “Full Corruption tends to do that to people. I am the last remaining monster girl of the previous era, Galiena, head maid to Queen Maia the First. I know these things because I have met many androids before, and I have heard much from them. If you don’t believe me, feel your heartbeat, estimate how much food is in your stomach, or even just try to hold your breath. You’ll see.”
The moment Alexis even thought about it, a readout appeared in the corner of her vision, helpfully proclaiming that her energy reserves were completely full. And…yes, a quick check for a pulse revealed that she had none, and if she tried to hold her breath, she didn’t feel any discomfort at all. She instinctively knew that she could hold her breath for as long as she wanted with no ill effects, but breathing felt natural, so she let the breath she was holding out and continued to breathe normally.
“I really am –” Alexis began, but she was cut off by the arrival of a very grumpy demoness, sword held at the ready.
“You losers have one minute to explain yourselves before I arrest you for treason.” She said testily. “Why have you turned me into this? What are you playing at?”
“Yeah? You and what army?” A horned woman replied, hefting a large axe casually.
“Are you an idiot?” The demoness snapped. “My squad is still here, and I feel just as strong as before. That’s what army.”
“We literally just beat them for a second time.” A winged woman with orange hair said. “And even if the rest of your squad backs you up, I think you’ll find that the rest of the soldiers here probably won’t be so willing.”
“Uh, no?” The demoness said. “I talked with them. They understood the way the world works, they won’t fall for whatever nonsense you’re spewing.”
“They only acted that way because of Aira’s Fervor.” The woman shot back. “We’ve cured you and them of it, and unless soldiers under the command of someone who, by all accounts, is a very good person, are all lowlifes like you, I think they’ll agree with us.”
“That’s what you’re talking about?” The demoness groaned. “It can’t be cured, and it doesn’t even really do much in the first place. I should know, I had it, and I was just a little hornier. That’s literally all it is.”
“So did all of us.” The woman replied. “You didn’t see much change because you were already a piece of human garbage. Now, you can either apologize to us and pray Maia lets you join us, or you can go off and suffer in this world now that you don’t have the curse. What’ll you pick?”
“As if. If you’re following someone named Maia, it’s clear that you’re a blasphemer. And, even if you weren’t, I wouldn’t hang around a nobody like you if it killed me. You don’t have control of this situation, and I’m not going to repeat myself. Explain before I arrest you.”
Alexis furrowed her brow. The demoness really seemed to believe that she would be able to arrest these women if they resisted, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. She was either stupid, cocky, or, as Alexis was increasingly suspecting, both.
“We’re on a mission from the goddesses to cure the world of Aira’s Fervor, and are on a pilgrimage to the Isle of Advent to meet with them.” An angel said, stepping forward. “Surely you’ve noticed that people act completely differently after getting Aira’s Fervor, it should be obvious now that you’re cured.”
“If anything, it just wakes them up to the reality of this world.” The demoness replied testily. “If you claim to see differently after being ‘cured’, then you’re willingly ignoring reality.”
“It seems we disagree, then.” The angel said. “If this is what you truly believe, then Sylvie’s right; you’re little better than those we fight against.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. Now, come quietly, it’s a long way back to Miral, and I don’t want to have to babysit a bunch of rowdy captives the whole way.”
The angel gave the demoness a glare. “Do you seriously believe we’ll just come with you? You should feel lucky we gave you the benefit of the doubt and didn’t just kill you.”
“No, but my troops are here now, and with the newfound strength I feel, I think we’ll be more than a match for you.” The demoness said, raising her sword. “To arms!”
Alexis glanced around, noting that her soldiers seemed to have gathered, and they too had been turned into monstrous maidens of many varieties. And…though her memories of the past day were a little hazy, the rest weren’t. The angel was right; Aira’s Fervor had twisted the world in a horrible way, and if she was fighting against it…well, she had Alexis’s support.
So, Alexis walked between the two of them, giving the demoness a level stare. “I tire of this conversation.” She said. “I am Alexios…Alexis, Bulwark of the North. For those of you who followed me to this battle today, that much is obvious. For those of you led by this woman, I like to think my reputation precedes me.
“And, if it does, then you know that I believe strongly in justice, the rule of law, and helping your fellows in whatever way you can. I am ashamed to say that, once I got Aira’s Fervor, those values evaporated. I built my life on them, and in an instant, they were replaced with callous indifference for others and the belief that if you were physically capable of something, then you had the right to do it.
“I became obsessed with myself, the type of person who would sooner leave his comrades to die than to risk even the slightest injury to help. Given the circumstances, I cannot say for sure that we are exactly the same as we were before contracting Aira’s Fervor, but I think you know as well as I that we’re closer than we were before.
“Regardless of if Aira’s Fervor is a goddess-sent infliction, and I have no doubt that it isn’t, I would plead with you all that you stand with me and fight against it; it is an affront to any sort of civilized society. And, the way I see it, these women are likely our best chance at fighting against it. If you should choose to aid this demoness in trying to capture them, know that you will have me to contend with, and I am a far more formidable warrior than my performance in this battle might have indicated.”
“As if.” The demoness snorted, striding forward. “You’re a washed-up veteran clinging to undeserved glory. I could beat you in an instant.”
Alexis smiled confidently. “Care to back those words up?” She asked. “It’ll be a duel to the death, no excuses if you or I lose.”
The demon paused. “I’m…still recovering. I had a larger dose of whatever transformative has afflicted us, and purging it has left me weakened.”
“Nonsense.” Alexis replied. “You just said you were feeling stronger than ever, and even if you didn’t, I almost certainly had a similar dosage to you, and I feel fine.”
“You’re still human.” The demoness huffed. “You didn’t change anywhere near as much as I did.”
Alexis’s right arm popped open, and she grabbed a sword from the construction chamber within. “I checked, and I am not.” She said. “I am a machine now; my heart doesn’t beat, I don’t breathe, and I can instantly get data on exact details of my body. I think I’ve changed more than you.”
“If you’re a machine, then you can’t feel sick.” The demoness replied. “You obviously wouldn’t feel what I’m feeling.” She paused, surveying Alexis’s troops. “It would seem most of you are fools who buy into this nonsense. I can see when I’m outnumbered, and I refuse to die here; I’m going back to Miral, and I would invite anyone who isn’t a traitor to humankind to join me.”
“Do note that you will likely end up as glorified sex toys.” Galiena said. “The cursed do not take kindly to monster girls such as ourselves, and regardless of your former station, you will be reduced to nothing. You are outside of their control, and therefore cannot be trusted.”
“It’s true.” Minerva said, voice quavering slightly. “My own parents nearly sold me into slavery, and they loved me more than anything before this. You don’t have to join us, I don’t think we could take more than a couple of you with us anyway, but I’m sure we can find a place for you to stay until the time comes that we return and liberate this region. Please, think long and hard before any of you pick a side.”
There was a long silence, and several of the demoness’s soldiers stepped back, clearly rethinking their loyalties.
“Cowards, the lot of you.” The demoness spat. “I’m leaving.”
“No, I think you’re the coward.” Alexis said, stepping forward. “If I had a glove to take off, I would slap you with it. Duel me, here and now.”
“No.” The demoness replied. “I have no reason to. Leave me alone.”
“Let her leave.” The orange haired winged woman from earlier advised. “She’ll get what’s coming to her if she leaves, she won’t be a threat anymore.”
Alexis paused, then nodded and stepped back. The demoness stormed off, followed by about half of her retinue, and the moment she was gone, Minerva excitedly pulled at Alexis’s arm.
“Does this mean you’re willing to come with us?!” She said. “Please, please say yes!”
“If you’re willing to allow a small detour to get my troops to a safe hiding place, then yes, so long as you are willing to have me.” Alexis said.
“We would be happy to have you, Alexis.” The angel said. “Show us the way, and we’ll stay with you until these people are set up.”
Alexis nodded, then turned to Galiena. “I’m sorry, but…have we met? You seem familiar.”
“You forgot?” Minerva asked. “How?”
“As I said, your memories are hazy because you were fully Corrupted. They will return over the next couple of days.” Galiena replied. “But to answer your question, yes, we have briefly met before. I requested a duel to see whether or not this era’s heroes were up to snuff.”
Alexis frowned. “But you’re fine.” She said. “I don’t think I would have let an opponent go without roughing them up more, given the state I was in.”
“Um…you lost, Alexis.” Minerva said. “Badly.”
“I…lost?” Alexis said, looking at the maid blankly. “But she’s–”
“She’s theBone Tyrant, Alexis.” Minerva said. “And she’s why I’m in this maid outfit. I wanted to learn to fight from her, and receiving maid training at the same time is the condition.”
“I was not slain, as history would have you believe.” Galiena said. “History was wrong about a great many things. We can talk about this later, though; we will have more time on the road, and time is precious.” She turned to the angel before continuing. “With your leave, Queen Maia, I would like to fetch Amy and prepare to set off.”
Right, that was another thing Alexis was curious about. “I’ve been meaning to ask…Maia? That name is…well, you know.”
“The goddesses gave it to me themselves.” Maia replied. “She was, apparently, the first queen of the monster girls, and our history has been twisted to paint her the villain. I was just as confused as you when I first got the name. But, for now, Galiena’s right; we should get going, we can talk more on the road. Where’s this safe place you were talking about?”
“It’s to our north. It’s a small fort in the mountains that’s fallen to disuse now that this area no longer borders other countries, and it should be perfectly serviceable with a bit of maintenance.” Alexis explained.
“Perfect.” Maia replied. “It’s a pleasure to have you on our side, Alexis.”
“I think…I think I will feel the same.” Alexis said. “Minerva, would you come with me while I organize the troops? I have some questions for you.”
“Of course!” Minerva said happily. “It’s so good to have you on my side again.”
Alexis led Minerva away, happy to see her charge again, but more so concerned. She had publicly said she would support these women, yes, but that was a volatile situation, and she had no way of knowing if they would have turned on her again if she hadn’t. Her gut was telling her that they were on the right side, but she needed to ensure that they were trustworthy before fully committing, and for that, she needed to have a talk with Minerva.