The Devil In White: An AA Online Novel

Amelia thought that she was doing a better job of explaining than Aidan. It was a sort of foreign concept to her, so once she had grasped it she had an easier time of explaining it to the other people who didn't seem to see anything wrong with their adventure so far. As she continued however she saw their faces change. From mild intrigue, to suspicious, and finally to unamused.

"Explain to me real quick, in one sentence, what you mean again by the dead people in town?" Idolia requested. "I pretty much got it but I want to be clear."

"We're treating them like memories of people, not people. When the Residents were in danger we didn't sit around waiting for the Visage to tell us where they would be. We made sh.i.p.s, formed alliances, discovered surprisingly competitive rivals, took over the seas." Amelia looked around the group who were all sitting on benches and tables in the Guild Hall. "The point is, the game actually sped up the time-table so it could fight us."

"Wow. You're positing that the game actually thought the player base was doing too well for the encounter and shaved off time?" Hendrick asked.

"I'm guaranteeing it. This game is not subtle about changes. Haven't you all thought it has been quiet here? How long has it been since we've seen a system announcement?" Amelia demanded.

Everyone shifted uncomfortably, unable to recall. Even when Adalia had been revealed as a would-be poisoner and traitor by having one of her attendants slip into the kitchen the game had done little more than mark her and her allies as hostile.

"That doesn't mean there isn't a timer though." Hunter pointed out.

"Correct. Which means until we force the change we have no idea what kind of time crunch we're under. Has anyone actually seen the Halves preparing for war?" Amelia asked.

"No," Schulia whispered sounding depressed. "They're curious about us, but mostly they play and have short workdays."

"We have arrived in this world as a mysterious force of survivors, destined to aid this world." Amelia began grandly. "However, we should have realized immediately that we're here to aid the world, not save it." She frowned and dismissed her own words. "Ok, we are here to save it but the 25 of us aren't going to beat the evil god on our own. The Visage arc took thousands of Transients and Residents and we almost lost."

Tempest shifted uneasily in his seat, obviously remembering the aforementioned fight. "You expect such a battle? There was a Transient limit for this quest though."

"Sure." Amelia agreed. "25 of us to help an army of an uncountable number of all four races led by their incredible and legendary Hero Kings and Queens. A battle that was so incredibly barbaric and deadly that it literally wiped out travel between different cultures for years. Everyone limped home and just tried to survive the winter."

"That actually didn't make me feel better." Tempest pointed out.

"Yeah," Amelia said tiredly. "That's my problem too. Doesn't make our Guild Hall very cozy. All I'm saying is we need to approach this from a different angle, and I have some ideas on that. When we go back to our present I liked the idea that they maintained the Guild Hall for us, but not the descendants of the Halves. I mean the twerps live for 3,000 years, right? I expect freaking Hero Queen Victoria to tell us about how she's been dusting diligently. Instead of thinking of the Half as dead and gone when we leave this place, we need to start viewing them as the Residents of the kingdom of Elysium."

"So bad guys?" Raven finally wanted to know. "I have been patient Amelia. You will tell me how I can be bad now. I have been very good for several days. No pirating, no Grendel-hunting, no beating up the really arrogant Halves…"

Smirking and light laughter started to fill the room again. Most of them were laughing because they knew she was being dead serious, she expected some sort of reward for sitting quietly and not causing trouble.

"Yeah. Wanna be Evil Queen Raven?" Amelia quirked an eyebrow.

"I could be Evil Hero Queen Raven." Raven said grandly with such solemnity it was almost frightening. No one thought to point out she'd still added in an extra 'hero' in the title. "Wait. Am I killing Victoria? Well I could. Probably. Hmm."

Raven sat back down. "This is going to take more of that planning thing, isn't it?"

The laughter continued until Amelia quieted them. "Good, because the first step is to get King Johanis off his throne. It's time he retired into whatever nice place there is for old Halves. Victoria really likes us and doesn't see us as any threat. That's really strange though, isn't it? Her own sister was a traitor but she's willing to hang around us? I think that's pretty stupid, and the longer I think on it the more weirded out by that I get. It's time to tell her that there is her personal friendship, and then there is a healthy distrust toward outsiders when it concerns the safety of her people."

Elisha raised a hand. "How does that get King Johanis off the throne?"

"Victoria will take him off the throne. When that happens we'll go along with it unless it's really bad." Amelia answered.

"Define really bad?" Forsythe wanted to know.

"If we give her a little too much anger to deal with at once and he doesn't give up his crown right away and she tries to kill him," Amelia said simply. "Or flips out and kills us all. Or something happens outside of our plans and we have to ad-lib and it goes poorly."

"Oh. That would be bad." Forsythe agreed.

"Yes. We need to raise our little ferocious Hero Queen as quickly as possible but we have to respect the fact that her general character archetype is loyal, trusting, courageous, kind, and all the other stuff you really want your allies to possess." Amelia explained. "You know, when they're not trouncing evil-doers or people like Raven."

"Oh, I see. I'm going to Captain Raven her," Raven nodded as if suddenly everything made complete sense to her.

"As much as it pains me to admit it, that's what you're going to do. Only I want you to taunt her, by say, threatening to steal her crown because she's weak. They keep telling us about their strength. Has anyone actually seen them do anything other than getting wiped off the floor of our Guild Hall?" Amelia looked around, and again heads shook. It had been a very quiet joke around the guild hall when none of the Halves were around about how easy it had been to clear them, considering their huge egos.

"What if Raven kills Victoria?" Forsythe asked after she motioned for him to speak and he put his hand down.

"I admit, holding back isn't my thing." Raven supplied. "She could accidentally receive critical amplification from my amazing and spontaneously explode."

"Aidan's going to watch you." Amelia explained. She ignored the spontaneous exploding because she wasn't sure what that meant.

"I am?" Aidan raised an eyebrow, looking like that she was already asking an impossible thing.

"You are." Amelia agreed. "You do most of the taunting through Raven. You can be the narrator into Raven's dark thoughts on why she is so angry at Victoria and the Half."

"Hoo… That's a pretty interesting idea." Aidan grinned his Cheshire grin, lips peeling back wide at the thought of instigating trouble.

"Raven, this is the important part," Amelia said gently. Raven perked up, hearing the sweet tone change in Amelia's voice and looking immediately suspicious. "You have to surrender if she is about to kill you."

"Kill me?" Raven was openly scoffing now. She put one hand behind her head and leaned back using it as a sort of pillow. Her stump moved into the same position as if there was a phantom hand holding her head from the other side. "I warn you not to underestimate my power, Amelia."

"Promise me," Amelia repeated. "This is a heroic, legendary, tall-tale hero queen. We haven't seen any indication she's actually strong. In fact, I'm thinking most of her exploits are made up, but that doesn't mean she can't actually wipe the floor with you. We need you to not die because we don't know if you can resurrect."

"What if SHE gives up?" Raven wanted to know. "Can I really be the Evil Hero Queen Raven?"

"Sure. But only Aidan can give you the sign that it's okay to do that." Amelia was really putting a lot of pressure on Aidan, she knew. It was likely that Raven really would fight all out from the start just to see where the battle would lead.

Raven didn't have any sense of right or wrong when it came to battle. Or, really, life in general.

"How do the rest of us factor into this drama?" Gilduirn wanted to know. He held up a hand forestalling complaint as people began to turn toward him. "Now I am on board with Amelia's plan, don't misunderstand. The last time I tried to do it without her I got killed and had to watch. This time if she is summoning a dragon, I want to know about the obviously better dragon-related plan." Light chuckles answered him and everyone turned back to Amelia.

"We're going to walk into the castle and then perform a bloodless coup." Amelia said.

Gilduirn's eyes got big. "Let me get this straight. We're going to get all the major players we need into their hall, with all their guards, surprise them, disarm them, but NOT kill them -- and then watch this other little drama unfold?" He smiled. "That sounds hilarious. I'm in."

"He's growing on me," Aidan admitted. "Or perhaps in me. Like a disease. Are you contagious somehow I wonder?"

Gilduirn ignored him but did roll his eyes.

Hunter finally stood up, stretching. "What time do you want to begin operation make Raven queen because that's not the most terrible idea in the history of terrible ideas?"

"Even I am a little alarmed you're all fine with this," Raven admitted gracefully. "As your future tyrant, I should like to tell you I am fond of chocolates and begging. If you wish to get ahead and start pleading for your miserable souls, you may find me outside."

"The worst." Elisha joked, earning a smile from Raven.

"S.u.c.k.i.n.g up is also accepted," Raven added generously and kept smiling at Elisha."+5 to Elisha."

Forsythe was the last to comment before the group broke up for the evening. "I'm not actually fine with this."

---------------

"You're really not mad?" Aidan inquired. They were out for a walk. Amelia had asked Hunter if it was actually safe and had received the advice to stick to the road and flash a light on the ditches. That didn't make her feel better but if she spent another night in the house without doing something in the real world she would have gone crazy.

"No. I think Forsythe and Raven are actually more amazed than you. I should have acted mad though. Forsythe said I would get more dates out of it if you had to make it up to me." Amelia teased him.

She couldn't see him smiling but he gave her hand a quick squeeze indicating he was. Aidan was using their flashlight to cast light in the ditches. He wasn't actually sure, he informed her, what they were keeping an eye out for that came out at night in Australia.

Amelia had a sneaking suspicion it had just been a hoax that Hunter had thought up so they wouldn't get lost in the dark quite so easily.

"Well, I got a head start on gaining a good reputation," Aidan told her suddenly. "You went to bed early and I got to talk to your parents for you. They were demanding to know if you had been declared Empress of Australia yet."

"How are they doing?" Amelia asked, a little sorry he'd been under the gun. Her parents were kind of overwhelming.

"Good. Your father is doing a commission for the city leaders. Something about doing statues of their new pets. He seemed pleased. Your mother joined the Winter Silf and I think she's pretty good friends with Skyline." Aidan laughed. "Your father warned her while we were talking that she couldn't be a queen even if you were one. Your mother was less certain on that point."

"Ugh. Royal friends." Amelia scowled. "It will mean war if they make her a city-leader. I'll declare the treaty null and void and lead us to victorious and glorious battle."

"That'll make Christmas awkward." Aidan allowed.

"Yeah. Sorry in advance for burned turkey and plate thumping caused by big spoons wielded by a silent, angry woman." Amelia told him.

"What do you want for Christmas?" He suddenly asked.

"Christmas is a long way off. Still the fall semester." Amelia reminded him. "Why the interest?"

"Well, I have to plan ahead. You have a birthday in December AND you get Christmas presents. Pretty greedy if you ask me." Aidan snickered.

"I don't need anything." Amelia suddenly decided.

"No jewelry?" Aidan insisted.

"I don't wear jewelry," Amelia answered.

"But if you did," Aidan prompted.

"I wouldn't." Amelia laughed. "Though I do think it's adorable you want me to wear something that you bought so you can see me wearing it."

"Is that a little controlling?" Aidan asked, sounding as if he was unsure of his own motivations all of a sudden.

"No, it's sweet. Controlling would be if you bought me all jewelry anyway and pouted when I didn't wear it. Then you started asking me where I was at all times of the day." Amelia added helpfully.

"Well, I'm mostly lucky. I have spies to tell me where you are most times of the day anyway." Aidan said loftily. "They do not even know they hench for me."

"I won't tell Raven you called her your henchman," Amelia promised him. "...Henchwoman."

"Oh, would you not? I'd appreciate it." He laughed faking the sound of relief.

It was the best night she'd had in a while.