Evening preperations

Tyra continued to lead Lila back to her quarters until they arrived. She opened the door and Lila ran inside, **** to get away from the open air that consistently reminded her of her embarrassing predicament. She didn't think about the fact that Angelica was in the room and as she ran in, Lila let go of her shirt and let it slide up, inadvertently flashing her pussy at Angelica who responded with a surprised stare. Lila realized her mistake, yelped, and quickly pulled her shirt down to cover herself. Angelica, however, didn't have the energy to comment and simply looked down, seeming to be thoroughly dejected. Tyra came in after Lila, closing the door behind her.

"There's a... situation with Daelana," said Tyra, "I'm letting Lila stay with us for a while. I hope that's okay."

"Huh?" said Angelica, snapped out of a small stupor, "Yes that's fine."

"Come on Lila," said Tyra, "Let's find you something to wear."

Lila awkwardly shuffled along after Tyra as she went and opened her wardrobe. She sifted through the many outfits that were all custom made for her and her alone. It was only then that she realized an inherent problem and silently cursed herself for not realizing it sooner.

"Hey Lila," said Tyra, "I don't know how I didn't think of this but all the clothing here is perfectly tailored for me and my... new size..."

She looked down at the large breasts that were gifted to her upon her arrival. She still wasn't quite used to having a part of her body be so new. The constant risk of enhanced sensations didn't help.

"Oh... uhh..." said Lila, "It still fits though. I mean, I'm wearing your shirt. I really just want to wear something so don't worry about the size."

"That's not exactly what I was thinking of," said Tyra.

With her fingers she sorted through the hanging outfits one by one until she came to a fancy dress. It was clear it was for her. Ample space for her bosom and a color scheme to match her usual attire. This was what they wished for her to wear to the ball tonight. She looked back to Lila who still looked confused.

"You can wear whatever you want now, but your ball dress is still in your room," said Tyra, "And if this event really is a proper ball, I don't think you want to go in a loose fitting outfit."

"Oh," said Lila, "But my room... that's where she..."

Tyra sighed. She knew she couldn't ask her to go back to that room and it seemed clear that Daelana herself was not in her right mind. It could've been dangerous for anyone to go. In the midst of her thoughts, Angelica raised her head to Tyra and Lila.

"Dressing up for him, huh?" said Angelica, "Gods above, I can't believe this is what we're worried about. Parading about before our enemy in fancy dresses like circus pets! Pleasing the every whim of these twisted villains!"

Tyra turned to Angelica.

"We agreed on this," said Tyra, "This is the best way forward."

"I know," said Angelica, "I know. But how can I bring myself to do that?

Tyra sighed, unsure of what else to say. No matter what she told Angelica, she always seemed to find her way back to this depressing spiral, endlessly bemoaning their situation. Tyra no longer had the will to try and change her mind on it. She was a pirate. She knew that there were places in the world where hope did not exist. That was a privilege and a burden that Angelica never seemed to have. It's why everyone followed her in the first place, but it might be their downfall now. The best she could do was focus on herself for now. Perhaps she could help Lila too. Though it was hard to tell, she thought Lila wasn't so far beyond realizing what needed to be done, though it wouldn't be easy to accept either way.

"I'll go to your quarters Lila," said Tyra.

"What?" said Lila, "But she's really really angry right now!"

"I can handle Daelana," said Tyra, "Don't worry about me. Feel free to put on any of these clothes in the meantime."

Before Lila could interject further, Tyra swiftly exited. Lila fell silent, looking at Angelica who no longer met her gaze. Between her hopelessness at the meeting and the attack of Daelana, everything really was falling apart. She wondered if any of them could call each other friends again after this. If they made it out. She tried her best to move past such thoughts as she grabbed some pants from the wardrobe.

***

Christina returned to her quarters, still very shaken. She couldn't help herself from constantly agonizing over the upcoming night. It clouded her mind as she stepped through the doors of her place and she saw Athalia looking at herself in the mirror wearing an elegant black dress. It was clearly made for the ball that night. Athalia turned to attention as she heard Christina enter.

"Oh, hello there," said Athalia, "I was wondering where you were. By the abyss I'm glad to finally be out of that damned maid's outfit!"

Seeing Athalia's gown urged Christina to go to her own closet and look for her own attire. Sure enough, as she opened the wardrobe she found a beautiful blue dress hanging there just for her. It almost seemed like something out of a fairy tale she would hear in her childhood. A lovely garb magically appearing for a girl so she may go to the ball and meet her prince. While such a thing would've delighted her back then, it now seemed like an ironic joke of sorts. This particular prince was the last person she wanted to meet.

"Well, we've got nothing to do but talk, blue girl," said Athalia, "So you might as well tell me what you were wasting your time with out there."

"Me?" said Christina, "Oh, we were helping Lila with a... situation."

Athalia looked over to Christina suspiciously. She walked over to her, getting uncomfortably close.

"What kind of situation?" said Athalia.

"Uh, does it matter?" said Christina.

"You don't seriously think you can just say you had a situation in that tone of voice and expect me not to get curious," said Athalia, "Besides, I know you're not gonna lie, being the good church girl you are. So spill it!"

Christina gulped. It was true that she was taught never to lie by the church. It was simply not in her nature. As much as she didn't want to, she felt more and more guilty for concealing the truth by the second.

"We found Lila... naked," she said.

"No shit?" said Athalia, "Darkness preserve me! How did she end up like that?"

"Well..." said Christina, "She may have been... stripped..."

"No way," said Athalia, "Wait, was it Daelana?"

Christina's eyes widened.

"H-how did you know?" said Christina.

"Educated guess dear," said Athalia, "Not only do they share a room, but given what Daelana just went through, she's in a precarious mental state now. I'm guessing a dark knight sworn against the dark lord doesn't willingly kiss her oath bound enemy unless her mind is truly broken. After that, who know what can happen?"

"She... she kissed him?" said Christina, "I mean, I saw the logs but... it can't be true, right?"

Athalia smirked. Though she couldn't see all effects her machinations could have, she knew that stirring the pot with some rumors would only stand to benefit her in the long run. Breeding chaos was nothing new to her.

"I saw it with my own eyes," said Athalia, "When I went up to do maid shit, I saw the black haired bimbo slobbering her whore mouth all over Malgor's lips. She couldn't get enough of him."

Christina was in shock. While she would normally write off Athalia's words as the lies of a demon, what she said perfectly lined up not only with the logs but also with her strange behavior as of late. Despite her soul denying it, she knew it to be true.

"How can that be?" said Christina, "She hates him. Always has. That's what kept her going."

"That's the dark lord for you," said Athalia, "I know him. One night with him is all it takes. I'm sure you'll discover that soon."

Athalia wasn't wholly convinced of her own words. While she had carnally tangled with him in the past and seen him dominate other women, the full extent of his might and cunning she had underestimated until recently. But that didn't matter. All she wished to do was scare Christina, and it seemed that was exactly what was happening. Christina visibly shook and receded backwards as her fear only heightened from where it already was. Athlia smiled and turned back to her mirror.

"Well, I'd be more worried about Lila than yourself honey," said Athalia, "If she can't return to her room, she'll have no dress for the ball. She may have to attend naked!"

"What? No!" said Christina, "She couldn't possibly do that!"

"There's no telling what people may or may not do here," said Athalia, "It's sort of exciting in that way, isn't it?"

Christina went silent, not wanting to prolong the conversation any longer. She instead went back to her wardrobe and took down the dress, consigning herself to trying it on to keep herself busy. Athalia too decided to drop the chatting, feeling it would be boring to talk at her if she was no longer responding.

***

Daelana stumbled back into her quarters, finding the emptiness rather eerie. She knew that the eeriness would remain as there was no way Lila would come back to their room unless she was truly ****. She might've been given her current state, but Daelana didn't expect her nonetheless. She truly let her rage take control and now she might've severed that relationship forever.

Exhausted, she dragged herself over to her bed and fell into it. So much had happened and so much more was still in store. Even in her tired state she had to admit that. She felt Lila's purple cloak around her bare body. She looked down at it and brushed her fingers over it. The clothes that she stole from someone who used to call her friend. Lila was always the most shy and physically weak of them all. As Daelana grasped her in vengeance, she knew she would be unable to fight back, forcefully or mentally. She knew she would be able to exact whatever she wanted on her. And so she did. Not only that, she made it sexual. She stripped the girl and humiliated her completely. That was not something she thought herself capable of until last night. Her night with Malgor.

She looked at her own hands. She imagined them being lifted by puppet strings, and as she imagined that she could look up and see the clawed hand of the dark lord holding the ends. Every thought she had was tainted by his shadow. It had always been that way, but now it was more intense than ever. It was because all of these thoughts she had, every way she perceived her situation, it was always based on something he had said to her that night. She realized she was truly beginning to see the world through his eyes. Seeing only what he allowed her to see. Feeling only what he allowed her to feel. And now Lila was suffering the consequences of it.

Suddenly the door burst open. A pang of fear shot through her heart as she imagined Lila coming back after all. She worried what she would have to say to her. But as her head sprang up, she saw that it was Tyra there instead. She calmed down slightly, only glaring at her menacingly. Tyra met her eyes with a stare of equal malice before walking over to Lila's side of the room. She opened her wardrobe, grabbed her purple ball gown, and started for he exit.

"Is she okay?" asked Daelana.

Tyra stopped in her tracks. She slowly turned her head to meet Daelana, judgement clearly in her eyes. A look she sometimes got from Angelica and Christina, the puritans they were, but never from the mercenary Tyra. She was never one to stick her nose in the businesses of others.

"What do you think?" said Tyra.

Tyra herself had the urge to let a surge of passion take hold of her. She imagined herself throwing the dress on the ground and making a dramatic speech condemning Daelana for her heinous actions. She could probably go on for hours saying that it's not like her to do such things or to beseech her to think of poor Lila's feelings. But those were the kinds of things others did. Not her. And now those others were also loosing their passion and hope. She knew there was nothing practical about taking their place and being the righteous one. The pirate had to always think practically, no matter what. So she simply slung the dress over her shoulder and left without another word. Daelana let her head fall back to the bed and she contemplated the misery that awaited her at the ball that night.