Note to readers: This is an ongoing, long-format, character-driven story. It was written with the intention that some of the fun comes from watching characters change, fail, succeed, betray, and be loyal over time.
Normally I provide a synopsis so you can jump in without reading prior chapters. In this case, please do read Chapter 12 as this chapter is the direct fallout from that one.
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Chapter 13 - Fallout
"Don't pretend like you're not enjoying this!" Emily's delicate black heels were off, and she paced barefoot back and forth in front of a book-filled wall.
"Then what am I supposed to do? Because yeah, I enjoy it. That's the problem," Jack shot back. "I should just openly enjoy it?"
Emily's speed only increased.
"The whole point of tonight was about showing you what I'm dealing with here. If I'd just told you... you wouldn't have believed me, would you?" Jack asked.
"Not without magic," Emily almost spat the words at him. But she stopped pacing, and they both turned at the sound of the library doors opening as Saliah entered.
"Amy will be alright," Saliah said. "She won't be waking up for some time, but she'll be alright. The centerpiece though... Amy drank years."
"Why would you just leave that cup out!?" Emily's eyes glowing in a very good impression of Saliah's own infernal fury.
"Had I left a knife out on the table, would you blame me for Amy using it to stab the girl?" Saliah asked. There was an undercurrent in the words that Jack had only heard once before, when they'd first met at the train station. Did Saliah dislike her plans being upset?
"Blame isn't going to help," Jack cut in. "We need to figure out what to do. Can you put the memories back?"
"No," Saliah said, sliding into one of the library's wing chairs and folding one perfect leg over the other. "Why not just gift her as a slave to Amy? She clearly has a taste for the girl."
"My girlfriend is NOT going to own a sex slave!" Emily seemed to catch herself, then took a long breath, "Is slavery your solution to every problem?"
"A versatile tool has many uses," Saliah answered, seemingly very pleased with herself. But the words were harsh, amusement and anger dancing together in a dangerous ballet.
Jack ran his hands through his hair and exhaled. "What a mess..."
"What if you made Amy confess?" Emily asked.
Saliah raised an eyebrow in silent question.
"Have Amy turn herself into the police with the girl. She could say that she'd forced her to take some drug or something that caused brain damage. Amy would get the punishment she deserves, and the girl would get sent to a hospital."
"And then after a few weeks of failed treatments, turned out onto the streets, where she would simply be gobbled up by the first person smart enough to realize how vulnerable she is. Why not just hurl her out the front door if you want to just throw her away?" Saliah waved a hand dismissively.
"That's not what would happen..." Emily said, her voice faltering at the end.
Saliah sneered, and her words came faster than the normal song of her speech. "Humans can be so insufferable. Do you truly not look at the world around you to understand how it works? Or do you just let the honeyed lies of Hollywood drip into your brain to replace facts with fiction? You see the homeless every day, do you not? You see wolves eating sheep, do you not? You see the rich and powerful feeding and growing strong off the poor and weak. But no, you think that the world is nice, and fair, and safe, and if you're just a good girl things will work out in the end. And Saliah, evil Saliah gets the blame because I have a face while the hurricane, the volcano, greed, and disease lack them."
The next minutes were spent in near silence. Emily paced, her bare feet smacking against the floor. Jack looked off into space, as if the answer could be found by focusing his eyes past the spines of the library's books and seeing wisdom within. Saliah shifted in her seat, her posture saying that, so far as she was concerned, she'd proposed a perfectly workable solution to the problem and everything else was wasted time.
Finally, Emily stopped. "Alright, what about reunification? Amy and the girl both join this little harem of slaves you're so intent to build for Jack, and you make good on that temptation from dinner and reunify Korea."
Saliah laughed, the sound resonated with the rooms uncountable volumes of bound thoughts and they screamed back at its touch.
"Not even three hours and you've found a situation where you can stomach slavery? Very few fall into such a ground of maudlin moral mediocrity."
"Darling..." Jack said slowly, looking at Saliah. She looked at him, and very deliberately, shook her head in one slow left to right twist. Jack stopped, warning clear.
"No," Saliah answered.
"Why not?" Emily pressed.
"Because rulership of North Korea is going to be a gift I give to Jack. He should get the chance to taste that kind of power in a situation where no matter how he uses it, he will be doing better than the alternatives to him."
"Wait..." Jack said slowly. "Seriously?"
"It was going to be my one month anniversary present to you. So, thank you for ruining the surprise, Emily."
Jack's brain tripped over itself at that. Saliah was going to turn him into a king? As a one-month anniversary gift? He hadn't even thought of what to get her.
"There are plenty of bad countries you could gift to Jack. What's it going to take to fix Korea?" Emily asked, her pacing finally stopping, her body squared off with Saliah.
