Ch 83 – I was the enemy

"Haaah~" Ace moaned as she got into the warm water of the bath. "This feels amazing..."

"I... kinda needed it too." Necro spoke softly, only enough for Ace to hear.

"Today was tough on you... Wasn't it."

"Yeah..."

While the bath was large enough for the two particularly small girls to bath without touching, and both had sat on opposite sides of it, Ace was slowly drifting around the bath, inching closer to Necro.

"Huh?" Necro looked down, as she felt something touching her hand. "Oh... You've come... Sorry I didn't pay attention to you."

"It's okay honey." Ace sat right next to Necro, resting her head on her shoulder, while caressing Necro's thigh with her hand."

"Afuu~." Necro breathed in and let go a long sigh, hugging Ace's shoulder and bringing her closer. "Thanks for being there for me."

"Now..." Mary slowly walked, naked, towards the bath. She had a slightly annoyed face from the two's cuddliness but... she knew something major was up. "You two... just what happened...?" she asked, anxious.

"Just hop in first. We can talk from there."

"O-Okay..." Frightful for the first time in forever, Mary slowly walked the rest of the way to the bath, her hands trembling. She steeled her resolve, as she turned around and climbed into the bath, slowly submerging her naked body on the water, her floaters still floating... "I'm in... What happened?"

"A lot of things... Where do we begin?" Necro thought out loud, but a devilish voice said something in her stead.

"We got married."

"What!?" Mary's eyes widened as she heard such inconspicuous words coming out of Ace's mouth. "The hell do you mean with married?!"

"Ace, don't tease her too much. Let's start from the beginning."

"Tehee~. Okay, okay."

"Hahh~" Mary sighed. "So it was just teasing..."

"Ah, no. I didn't say that. She didn't lie. But I have to tell you the whole story."

"Wait, what?!" Mary sunk into the water all the way to her nose, her fists clenched. 'She stole a march on me again, that bitch!'

"Now, shall I begin?"

"Are you really gonna tell her everything? She could betray us." Ace spoke, with such coldness and lack of emotion a shiver went down Mary's spine, making her come up from the water and move towards Necro, opposite of Ace.

"Yes." Necro said, smirking. "After all, I can trust my knight."

Mary blushed, as Necro's hand made its way around and over her waist, pulling her the rest of the way towards her. A sense of security made her relax, despite the clear hostility from Ace.

"Now... Mary, this is something Ace already knows but I haven't told you yet—"

"You don't intend to tell her about—"

"I do. If she wants to stay with us from now on she must know. Things have changed."

"What are you guys..."

"Mary,"

"Yes!"

"Are you sure you want to be my knight? From now on, there's absolutely no way back. After I tell you what I will... I cannot let you go away."

Mary gulped. This was both a proof of trust, and a grave threat. She could feel Ace's eyes on her. 'She wants to get rid of a rival...' she thought, before her gaze met Necro's. In her's, Mary saw something she didn't expect... 'What... is this...' Her eyes widened, her mouth going agape, 'What could this monster fear?!' she gulped one more time. "I... made a vow. I'll remain by thee." And in response to her words, Necro let off a sigh of relief.

"Thank God... So, first things first. This is not my first life."

"I see—WAIT, WHAT?! What do you even mean with that!?"

"Mary! Calm down!" Ace spoke coldly. The instinctual fear calming Mary down.

"S-sorry..."

"It's fine. This girl had a similar reaction."

"Hey!" Ace protested, only to bite her lip in an inebriated expression.

'...Grab her by the... nevermind' A weird thought crossed Mary's mind, but she brushed it aside. "What do you mean not your first life?" The cogs slowly began turning inside Mary's head, her complexion turning paler and paler, as she heard the story of a man she didn't know personally,  but knew very well...

"I'm... I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Mary began sobbing uncontrollably apologizing to Necro about something.

"What happened?" Ace asked, thinking Necro had something to do with it.

"I don't know..." Necro whispered. "Mary, what are you apologizing for?"

"My master... I... I was in that expedition." As soon as Mary said those words, the atmosphere changed. A dark miasma covered the entire room, the water growing turbid as dark dendrites grew from the walls toward Mary.

"Gha—Ne..cro... calm... down..." Ace struggled to speak, an insurmountable pressure crushing her chest.

"Oh, shit! sorry." And with those words, almost as if it was but a dream, it all went back to normal. "Mary..." contrary to her expectations, Mary wasn't even frightened or in shock, like Ace was... She... had accepted her fate. 'I... can trust this woman.'

"Huh... why?" Mary asked, in awe.

"I promised you, remember? It won't ever happen again."

"Thank you, thank you!" Mary rose, leaning down on Necro's chest as she cried. Necro combing her hair with her fingers, while kissing her head.

"What did you do back then?"

"I was just a page..."

"Then you did nothing wrong."

"But... I was on the other side!"

"None of that matters, you're by me now."

"Thank you! Thank you so much..."

'What's with that crap?!' Ace just sat there, by the two's side, her hand on Necro's thigh, and Necro's in between hers. 'What the hell is happening here?' watching in awe wide eyed, as somehow Mary became even closer to Necro... by saying she was the enemy.