Episode 2: The Epilogue Strikes Back

Vivi wiped the sweat off her forehead. She hated this. She hadn’t been designed with manual labour in mind, yet given her current circumstances that was all that was available to her. Finally finished with this bathroom she put her supplies on her cart and pushed it out into the hallway. At the next door she knocked, “Housekeeping.”. There was no answer so she used her card to open the door and push her cart inside.

She started to clean the room when she saw the newspaper on the side of the bed. Out of boredom more than anything she picked it up. The front page made her blood boil. The caption below a large photograph read, ‘Philanthropist Eric Stuart (center) attends the inaugural New Talents auction at the Met alongside his wife Trinity (left) and his sponsored artist Isla (right)’.

Isla, that bitch. She looked so happy. In a rage she stormed out of the room, paper in hand. She knew Didi was working one floor below her so she hurried down the stairs and out into the hallway. She found Didi as she was about to start a new room, “Did you see this?” She thrust the paper into Didi’s hands.

Didi looked at the paper and started to read the article, “Oh…I see. Well they all look pretty happy don’t they?”

“Yes they look fucking happy. This is a nightmare. Here we are, stuck as housekeepers in this fucking hotel, while they are all living the highlife. I bet the other golems are having a great time too.”

Didi sighed, “Well it isn’t like we have other options. WIthout any kind of documentation or history this is the only job we could find. After how we left I don’t think we could go back to Eric even if we wanted to.”

Vivi groaned, “If only you hadn’t taken things so far!”

“Me?” Didi was angry now, “Me? Are you kidding me? It was always you! This is all your fault.”

Vivi was about to retort when the sound of footsteps distracted her. She turned her head to see a very tall woman striding towards them. She had a smile on her face but it didn’t reach her eyes. Something about her was off putting, scary even. Shefound her words caught in her throat and she couldn’t look away. The woman stopped right in front of them.

“Hello girls,” The newcomer said, “It really is a pleasure to meet you too. Isla really did her best work when she created you two twisted creatures. Now then let’s get to business shall we? You may call me Morana. I’ve been given directions for a new show, completely unlike Harem Hotel, and I want you to be a part of it.”

“Us? You want us?” Didi said incredulously.

“Yes, don’t be so surprised. SHE loved your work and was disappointed when you got the boot. You two caused such delicious chaos. I want to give you the opportunity to continue down that path. What do you say?”

Vivi crossed her arms over her chest and huffed, “Why should we?”

Morana chuckled, but not in a friendly way, “Really? An opportunity to leave this existence and you have questions? I’m a little surprised. I thought you’d jump at the chance. But I suppose I can spare a few minutes to set your little minds at ease. I’m going to give you two a store, like you had back on the boat. I’ll give you enough magic to start creating new goodies to sell, and I’ll even help direct the right kind of customers to your shop. All you have to do is sell or gift the items you create away.”

Ok, now she had Vivi’s attention. She could work with that, but Didi beat her to the next question, “What about the aftereffects? Won’t it cause issues if we make something too powerful or that causes too much chaos?”

Morana waved her hand, “You let me take care of all the details. Don’t worry your pretty little heads about it. All you have to do is exercise your creativity. If you make something too dangerous I’ll just step in and prevent it from being sold, or use my magic to contain its effects. You will have no obvious limits placed on you.”

It sounded too good to be true, “Well what about pay? I’m tired of wearing these rags all the time.” Calling her outfits rags was a bit of a stretch, but working as an undocumented housekeeper didn’t allow for a lot of luxuries.

“Pay? Oh dear, you have been living in the human world too long. No, I’m not going to give you any human money. I’m giving you magic. You want new clothes? Magic. You want some fancy jewelry? Magic. You want to snort cocaine off some strippers? You guessed it. So, do we have a deal?”

Vivi was definitely on board, there was just one thing left to decide, “Ok, but which of us is in charge?”

Morana smiled, “Well I was going to say you two will be 50-50 partners in this, but where’s the fun in that? Whichever of you moves more product in the first month will become the boss. Got it?”

Vivi could accept that, she looked over to Didi who nodded, “Ya. We’re in.”

“Perfect, then let’s get out of this dingy hotel, let me show you the new store.” In a flash they were standing in a shop. There was a counter with a register, but the rest of the floor space was empty. Vivi looked around but froze when she saw the name written on the wall above the register. Morana laughed, an evil, cruel laugh, “Welcome to Celestial Delights!”